On With After
by F-Hazard
Summary: What would you do if you died? What would you do if the one you love had given up on you? What if the afterlife was so long that you saw them all die? What would you do when your life is destroyed, time and time again, by just three words? Three words...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"What do I do now?" A girl said to herself. It was more of a statement then a question.

She stared out across the cliff she was standing on. Behind her a forest she had been walking through earlier. The wind whistled around her, her dark black hair flowing in the breeze. Her mocha eyes glanced down to the river hundreds of feet below her.

"Well… I promised that I would help him no matter what he did, but…" She continued to talk to herself, the wind died down to a deafening silence. "I guess I didn't realize how it would actually feel when he chose her…."

"_Oh course he chose her, who else was there to choose? Me? Yah right." _He thoughts were just as gloomy as her words.

Minutes passed before she spoke again. "A girl can dream right."

She reached her hand into her skirt pocket and pulled out a small pink orb. It was flawless other than a wide crack. "As long as this exists I have to help them… I have to help him… That was my promise."

The moonlight reflected off of the small gem and the wind began to pick up again. _"No matter what you do I will help you as long as the Shikon Jewel is still broken."_

"That was my promise… Why did I say that? Do I still have to live by that promise? It's not like they need me now… They have her."

She put the jewel back into her pocket and stared out to the horizon once more. More time passed until the sun slowly began to rise, turning the sky orange.

"_Guess I better go back." _She thought.

That's when she heard a growl behind her growl behind her. She slowly turned and saw something on the edge of the forest. It was obviously a demon, it looked vaguely human but more like a boar.

"Well, well, what is this, breakfast perhaps?" It said as it moved closer at a slow pace. "My, you do look tasty."

The girl's eyes narrowed. In one fluid movement, she spun around, took the bow off her shoulder and pulled an arrow to the string, aiming at the demon. The demon stopped moving and stared at the girl with an amused expression. Neither spoke.

"What do you plan to do with that human?" Asked the demon. Its face was hard to read but it was obviously smirking.

The girl didn't answer. She was not in the mood to talk.

The demon took another step closer. Then the girl released the arrow, as it flew a bright pink aura surrounded it. The demon jumped to the side to dodge but it went through his arm and left a deep cut. Blood slowly began oozing out. The demon screamed in pain clutching the wound.

"You're gonna pay for that bitch!" It yelled as it charged at the girl.

She had grabbed another arrow but before she could shoot it, the demon was right in front of her. _"He's fast." _She thought and jumped to the side. The demon swung its arm, it's claws hitting her stomach.

She was pushed back and fell on the ground with three large cuts in her torso, blood slowly coming out. There was too much adrenaline in her system and she couldn't feel the pain. The bow was knocked out of her hand and slid five feet away.

The demon snickered and turned to the collapsed girl. She was gasping for air and was glaring at the demon.

The pain finally hit her and she screamed and curled into a ball.

"You were a pesky meal, but you will be just as delicious." Said the demon. It turned and jumped at the girl laughing.

Its laugh suddenly stopped when it was right on top of the girl and a gasp escaped its large lips. It looked down at its chest to she an arrow pierced right through its heart. He followed the arrow to see the girl holding it and glaring back at the demon.

"Da…damnit." It whispered as it died.

The limp body fell on top of the barely alive girl. The blood from the wound in its chest was slowly oozing into the girls own wounds, making it sting more.

She screamed more as she pushed the corpse off of her and onto the blood stained grass.

The sky was still orange from the sun rising.

She sat up and gasped in pain again and grabbed her stomach, blood continued to flow out of the cuts. With much effort she stood up, nearly falling over every inch of the way, never taking her hand away from the wounds.

She heard someone call her name. She turned to see multiple figures in the distance running towards her.

She meant to turn, but instead found herself falling to the side. Her loss of blood made it so she couldn't make out what was happening.

Time seemed to pause as she realized she was on the very edge of the cliff and falling over. She knew she could not stop herself from falling and the figures in the distance were to far away to help.

Her feet left the earth and she began to fall, it was slow motion for her as she turned in the air to see the sky again.

She heard someone call her name again. She new the voice, tears began to come out of her eyes as she thought her last thought, the owner of the voice.

She remembered the face of the man that had called her, his long silver hair down his back. She remembered the red outfit he always wore and the sword that was always attached to his waist. She remembered his beautiful golden eyes. She remembered the promise that she had made to him, the same promise she had been thinking about before the demon attacked.

"_I love you…"_ She thought as she closed her eyes for the last time.


	2. Meeting

**Meeting**

"It's gone? Rukia, what are you talking about?" Asked a teenage boy. He was wearing a long black robe and sandals. On his back he had a large sword wrapped in bandages. His bright orange hair was messy and badly taken care of. At this point he was looking angrily at a much smaller girl next to him.

She was wearing a similar outfit and had a sword attached to her waist. Her hair was a dark black, while her eyes were violet. She herself was looking more confused than angry at a cell phone in her hand.

"I mean it's gone, it either escaped or was killed." Answer the girl known as Rukia. She continued to look at he phone. "Maybe someone got to it before us."

"Who then?" Asked the boy. He still had a scowl on his face, but now it looked more like what he usually had as an emotion. "Everyone else is still at school."

"Maybe someone else was sent here by Soul Society."

"Why the hell would they do that?"

"How should I know?" Rukia now looked just as angry as the boy. "Maybe they want to make sure-" She was cut off as her phone rang. She flipped it open to look at the screen. After a minute she spoke again. "That's strange."

"What?" Asked the boy.

"There is another source of reiatsu, exactly where the one that just diapered was, but it doesn't look like that of a hollow. Yet it's too large to just be just a plus soul… We need to be careful with this one. Let's go, Ichigo."

"Ya." With that they both took off down the street in same direction they were going before.

They continued to run, the source of reiatsu hadn't moved and when they turned a corner, they saw a girl looking away from them. She was messing with her shirt. She had long black hair and a sword on her waist. Rukia and Ichigo tensed when they saw her, the reason, her clothes.

She had on a long white skirt that went down to her ankles and a white shirt that stopped several inches above her waist so most of her stomach was visible. Both her pants and shirt had black around the edges. They were the clothes of an arrancar.

Rukia and Ichigo grabbed their swords and took a stance for battle. The arrancar continued to try and fix her shirt, not noticing the two behind her.

"Hey!" Yelled Rukia. The arrancar continued to ignore them.

"Hey you with the sword!" Yelled Ichigo. That got her attention. She turned around and looked at the two shinigami, shock showing on her face, then confusion.

She turned around completely and looked at them. Her hands no longer fixing her shirt as she spoke. "You can see me?"

"Ya, we can see you, now what are you doing here?" Yelled back Ichigo, hand still on his sword.

"I was just passing through." She said, still looking confused.

"Ichigo be careful." Whispered Rukia.

"Why?" He whispered back, neither of them taking their eyes off of the arrancar in front of them. "I don't sense any reiatsu at all."

"Then she must be able to seal it, don't let your guard down."

"Ok." He whispered, then louder at the confused girl. "I will ask again, why are you here?"

"I'm just passing through, what else would I be doing?" She asked, angrier now as she crossed her arms with an annoyed face.

"Stop playing around, why are you here?" It was Rukia this time.

"Will you stop asking me that!" She was almost screaming now. "You know what, I'm leaving." She said as she turned around.

Before she could take a step, Ichigo was in front of her, sword drawn and pointed at the girl. The bandages began to fall off to reveal a large sword. The girl's eyes widened at seeing it and she took a step back only to feel something sharp on her back.

She turned her head to see Rukia behind her with her sword drawn as well.

The girl's eyes widened a bit more in surprise, not fear, just surprise.

"Anyway to get out of this without a fight?" She asked.

"No." Ichigo was now annoyed as well. _"What type of Arrancar doesn't want to fight?" _He asked himself.

With a sigh the arrancar reached for her sword. Before she was able she disappeared just before Ichigo's sword swung were she was a moment before. The two Shinigami looked around but couldn't find her.

"Damnit, where'd she go?" Ichigo growled.

"You guys really want to fight huh?" Came a voice from behind Rukia. They turned around to see the arrancar ten feet away, sword drawn. The sword was a long katana. Its grip was a dark blue and it had a lighter blue hilt in the shape of a flower. "Why is that, did I do something to you that I don't remember?"

The two shinigami's glared at her, while the arrancar was obviously confused.

"Shut up." Yelled Ichigo, which got a glare from the arrancar.

"Anyone who works for Aizen is our enemy." Stated Rukia a little calmer than Ichigo.

"Aizen?" Her face went back to confused. "Who's that?"

With an annoyed grunt, Ichigo lunged at her, followed quickly by Rukia. They slashed at the girl from either side, but each attack was parried or dodged. After a full minute of nonstop attacks, Ichigo and Rukia jumped away from her. Both were panting and starting to sweat. The girl was breathing harder, but she still stood straight. All were unharmed. The arrancar because she blocked or dodged every attack, Ichigo and Rukia because she never attacked back.

"This is going to end now." Rukia said after her breath returned to normal. She held he zampakuto out in front of her. "**Dance, Sode no Shirayuki**."

She slowly spun her sword as it turned white and a ribbon came out of the grip. The arrancar's eyes widened and her mouth became fell open. She pointed at Rukia with her free hand.

"You can do that too!" She exclaimed more as a statement than a question.

"Huh?" Was all Ichigo could say as he stared blankly at the arrancar.

"What do you mean by 'you can do it _too_?'" Asked Rukia, stressing the last word.

"Well I've never met anyone else that could do that, then again, I've never met anyone that could see me either, other that those monsters." She then put her finger over her mouth and looked at the ground thinking.

"Wait, if you can release your sword like I just did then are you a shinigami?"

"Shinigami? Those are real!" She was yelling now looking at Rukia, seemingly to have forgotten about Ichigo. That didn't help his temper.

"Yah they're real! What do you think _we_ are?" He yelled back.

"Well I figured you were friends with her." She said and pointed behind Ichigo. "Wait, was she a shinigami too?"

Ichigo and Rukia turned to see a corpse. It was a woman. She had pale skin and was naked facedown on the ground in a pool of blood. She had two holes in her. One in her neck, that and the part of a mask that was visible, obviously meant she was a hollow. Another, much larger, hole was in her stomach that looked more like a cannonball was shot through her, it was surprising that she was not in two pieces. The larger hole was obviously what killed her and some blood was still oozing out of it. Next to the corpse was what looked like some kind of clothing, but it was burnt horribly and was starting to fall apart.

The two shinigami turned back to the girl who was still waiting for an answer. After a minute of silence Rukia spoke. "Um… No, she isn't a shinigami. Did you do that?" She glanced back at the corpse then back at the girl.

"Ya, I did. She we ran into each other right here. She immediately attacked me before saying anything. I tried to reason with her. I've never run into anyone that could see me before. But, it was useless. So I killed her, Bu before she died she did something with fire and burned my kimono. I may be dead but I don't want to go walking around naked. So I took her clothes, glad I didn't rip them, but they still feel weird." At the last part she began to tug on her shirt again, trying to get it to reach lower than it did. With a sigh she gave up and looked back at Rukia.

"So wait you're not an arrancar?" Asked Ichigo, who was still suspicious.

"Arran-what?" She looked at Ichigo with another confused look.

"If that woman was wearing that then she was an arrancar."

"And, since you were dressed in what arrancar's wear, that's why we attacked you." Said Rukia.

"So, if you are shinigami, and you attacked me because of that. Then you must not like these Arran-things. Right?" Asked the girl. Both shinigami nodded. "Then since I'm not one of those, can we be friends?"

That statement shocked the two shinigami. _"We just attacked her and she's already forgiven us?" _They both thought.

"Um… Sure, I guess." Said Rukia, struggling with her words.

"Ok, then" Said the girl putting her sword back in its sheath. "I'm Kagome Higurashi, what are your names?"

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." Said the orange haired boy, putting his extremely large sword on his shoulder.

"I'm Rukia Kuchiki." Said the small girl, also sheathing her sword.

"So we friends?" Asked Kagome with a smile. "It's been a long time since I've had a conversation with anyone."

"I guess, but we probably need to take you to Soul Society."

"Soul Society? What's that?"

"It's where the shinigami base of operation is." Answer Rukia.

"Why do I need to go there?"

"We need to ask you some questions to make sure you can be trusted, might as well have the higher ups there." Ichigo said rather bluntly.

"Oh." Kagome said, a little taken back by his rudeness. "So… How do we get there?" She said trying to hide her annoyance.

"Simple." Stated Rukia as se took her sword out again. She thrust it forward and the tip disappeared. She turned it and said. "Unlock" As she pulled her sword back, a large door appeared.

The doors slid apart to reveal another set of circular doors. When those opened a blinding light came through.

"You first." Said Ichigo.

Kagome glared at him, she still found him very annoying. _"They probably still don't trust me. Well if there are more people through here who can see and talk to me then I'll do it. It's been so long since I've had a friend, and I used to have the best friends anyone could wish for."_ With that thought Kagome stepped through the portal, Ichigo and Rukia following quickly. As the portal closed the light disappeared and a black butterfly fluttered away.


	3. Stares

**Stares**

"INTRUDER!"

That's when all hell broke loose.

As soon as Kagome stepped out of the doorway, that was heard. She knew why of course, why she hadn't thought of it, she didn't know.

Kagome was still dressed as she was before she walked through the doors that Rukia opened, and, according to her, she was the spitting image of an arrancar. Who just so happened to be the greatest enemy of Soul Society. Where she just happened to step into, alone.

To make matters worse this happened to be the same time four different squad captains and their lieutenants were arguing right outside of the doorway. Well two captains were arguing, the other two stood there not saying anything.

A large man with spiked hair and an eye patch was arguing with a boy. The boy's hair was white and horribly unkempt. They both had white haori on and swords, the larger man had his on his waist, and the boy's was on his back.

Behind them were eight other individuals, all of which had a sword on their waist. There was a small pink haired girl, no more then six. She had an angry look on her face, but it looked more cute then frightening. There were two older men, one with his dark hair in a dome cut and strange red and yellow things on his right eyebrow. The other was bald and had red marks above his eyes. They both looked very bored.

There was a woman with long orange hair and exceptionally large breasts looking bored as well. The other two that had on white haori both had black hair. The woman was smiling with her hair in a long braid over her shoulder and down her torso. The man had an emotionless face and long black hair with some kind of hairpins in them.

There was also a man with tomato red hair in a ponytail. He had multiple tattoos on his very annoyed face. Last there was another woman with gray hair with a tint a blue, she had two strands of hair with beads at the end, lying over her shoulder, and her face was also emotionless.

As soon as Kagome took a step out of the bald headed one shouted and pointed at her. All ten of them turned towards her and instantly drew theirs swords except the only woman with a white haori. One of them cursed under their breath and they all lunged at Kagome.

Kagome didn't want to fight but she knew she couldn't dodge all of theses attacks. So she did the only logical thing to limit the amount of blood shed, she took a hostage.

Before any of them were halfway to her, Kagome dashed past them, drew her sword and grabbed the woman with orange hair. In one swift movement Kagome had moved twenty feet away from the group, turned around with the woman in front of her. Kagome was holding both of the woman's hands behind her back with her left hand, and in her right hand she was holding her sword to the woman's neck. The woman's sword was still in her hands, but at being captured she accidentally dropped it.

The rest of the group turned towards Kagome and had their backs to the gate and froze.

"Matsumoto!" Yelled the white haired boy.

"I'm sorry captain." Said the woman named Matsumoto, only loud enough for the group to barely hear it.

"What do you want bitch!" Yelled the man with red hair, pointing it at the newly found enemy.

That got him a glare that nearly made him have a heart attack.

"Where are they?" Muttered Kagome to herself, but Matsumoto could hear it. "They're probably doing this to annoy me."

For a moment this confused Matsumoto. _"What does she mean?" _She thought, _"Who is she waiting for? Maybe more arrancar?"_ She then saw two figures coming through the gate. The light behind them made it impossible to see them. "BEHIND YOU!" She yelled believing that the woman who had a sword to her thought was a distraction for her two allies to take out the people present.

They all turned around and instantly thought the same thing. Byakuya flashed stepped forward only to stop right in front of the taller of the figures, his blade tip at it's neck.

"Kurosaki?" Was all Byakuya said before the light of the gate died down to show the two figures were ones they knew.

"Byakuya?"

"Ni-sama?"

This was when everyone present was completely confused, everyone except for Kagome.

"Hello. Hey, can you help me out with this?" Kagome said getting everyone's attention, then causing them to be even more confused.

Finally the white haired boy spoke up. "What is going on here Kurosaki?" He looked back at Ichigo. "Why did you bring an arrancar here?"

"Well… We found her in the human world and… apparently she isn't an arrancar." Replied Ichigo struggling for words with a sword being pushed into his neck.

"Then why did she attack us and take my lieutenant hostage?"

"Hey!" Kagome was now yelling angrily. "You guys attacked first and I took her hostage so no one had to die!"

No one replied to that because they knew it was true.

"Then can you let me go?" Matsumoto asked as politely as she could.

"Huh?" Kagome seemed to have forgotten about her. "Oh yah, sorry." And with that she let her go and put her sword away. She then hooked the sword Matsumoto had dropped with her foot and flicked it into the air, catching it by the blade, somehow not getting cut. She held it out to the owner and bowed slightly saying, "Nice to meet you, my name is Kagome Higurashi, what's yours?"

When she came back up she had a large smile causing everyone to sweatdrop. _"How can she become happy so easily?"_ They all thought.

"Um, hi. I'm Rangiku Matsumoto." She replied grabbing her sword and replacing it in its sheath slowly, still suspicious of the girl dressed as an arrancar.

Everyone else slowly sheathed their weapons as well when Rukia spoke up. "We brought here so she can tell the 1st squad captain. She might be a good ally."

After more explanations they had finally began to walk towards the where the apparent captain of the 1st squad was. All of the captains agreed that Kagome was still a threat and decided to follow. They had sent their lieutenants off to find the other captains for the meeting.

As they walked through the streets any other shinigami who stop whatever they were doing and look at the small convoy of people. With Byakuya and Unohana in the front, followed by Kagome with Rukia and Ichigo on either side of her, and Hitsugaya and Zaraki in the back, along with Kagome still wearing her borrowed outfit and no one was talking, it looked like a prisoner transport.

They all stared at the group as they passed, Kagome tried to ignore them but it failed badly.

The observers were whispering among themselves.

"What you think that's about?"

"Think they're going to execute her?"

"They didn't take her sword away, are they crazy?"

The comments continued, each one making Kagome more and more self-conscious, she looked at the floor as she walked. _"Maybe not being able to be seen isn't such a bad thing. Oh, why did I have to put on these clothes? If I didn't, maybe I wouldn't be here now. Would that be good or bad?"_

They kept walking in silence down the roads, into a building, and into a large room. On the far side of the room was an elderly man with a long white beard and a cane. On either side of him was a row of three people, all of them, including the old man, had on a white haori. Behind each of the seven people in the room, they each had another person behind them, except for a man with long white hair who had two people behind him. They were all standing.

On either side of the door were the lieutenants that were sent to find the other captains. Said captains took their position, two in each row and their lieutenants moved behind them.

Ichigo and Rukia, having no where to go stood on either side of the doorway that Kagome was still in, looking very uncertain of what to do.

The captains and lieutenants who had not met Kagome before hand looked surprised to say the least, they had not been told what they were here for.

One of the captains, a woman with dark eyes and short black hair except for two long braids wrapped in bandages that reached to down to her waist, spoke first. "A prisoner? Why were we called here for this, and why does she still have her sword?"

This didn't help Kagome's self-confidence. _"Why did that lady have to burn my only kimono?"_ She thought looking down at the floor, avoiding their gaze._ "Prisoner, That's what I'm starting to feel like."_

"She says she ain't an arrancar." Stated Zaraki in a bored tone.

"You don't seem very pleased about that." Stated another captain. He had on a pink robe of some kind over his haori, a straw hat, messy brown hair, and a light beard. He was smiling slightly, showing he was probably drunk.

"Well she's strong enough to get past all of us before we even knew what happened and take Matsumoto hostage. I was looking forward to an enjoyable fight." Zaraki answered with a sigh.

"_He's disappointed that we couldn't fight! What is wrong with him?"_

"You took a lieutenant hostage?" Asked the captain wearing pink, looking a Kagome as well as everyone else.

"Huh?" Kagome's head shot up, trying to form words. "Um, ya. I figured it was the best was for no one to get hurt." She started to mumble towards the end and looked at the floor again.

There was a pause before the elderly man spoke up his face emotionless. "How do we know we know that she isn't an arrancar? Kurosaki Ichigo." At the mentioning of his name Ichigo looked up. "You were the one that brought her here, what is your reasoning for believing her?"

With a sigh Ichigo got up from leaning on the wall and spoke. "We found her dressed like that near a corpse of a striped naked arrancar. The way her story goes is she was attacked by it but before she killed it her clothes were burned and she had to change. Closest thing she could find was the arrancar."

"Her reiatsu is also unlike that of a hollow." Put in Rukia. "We were headed in her direction when there was a hollow signature present, probably the arrancar she killed. It then disappeared and her reiatsu showed up on the scanner."

Silenced followed for what seemed like hours until the elderly man spoke up again. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The way he said it, it sounded more like she had disobeyed her parents and was about to be punished,

Looking back up and hiding her annoyance, Kagome answered. "It seems like I should be more careful of what I wear."

It was a simple, somewhat rude, answer. I was probably not the best thing to do in the given situation, but she was far to annoyed to care. That got multiple glares but no one spoke.

The silence was starting to get very awkward when footsteps could be heard from the hallway out side.

Everyone turned to the doorway to see a young man in a shinigami robe, running into the room, but he froze when he saw Kagome and almost fainted by the looks of it.

He took a step back and slowly reached for the sword on his waist, upon seeing this Kagome just sighed and looked upwards, closing her eyes.

"What is it?"

The new arrival turned to voice and for the first time noticed all of the captains and lieutenants were present, and seeming unworried about the arrancar present.

"We have a report of a large number of hollows on the edge of Karakura Town." Said the messenger. His eyes never leaving Kagome, more out of fear then suspicion.

This news interested everyone. "Do we have information on the strength of these hollows?" Asked one of the lieutenants.

"Hai." The messenger then looked down uncomfortably and reached into his pocket.

He pulled out a small folded sheet of paper, he was about to give it top the 1st Squad captain when Ichigo dashed forward and grabbed it. The messenger seemed to be the only one shocked by this.

Ichigo quickly read the paper, his eyes widening then narrowing in anger. He crumbled piece of paper in his hand and cursed under his breath.

"Well…" The messenger looked at the floor again, trying to find the words. "… Scanners show there are between fifty and eighty arrancars with at least lieutenant levels reiatsu, and almost two hundred average hollows… And all of them are converging at one spot..." He trailed off at the end, but they all got the message, hell has broken loose.

Everyone was too shocked to say anything except for Kagome. "Where is the place they are going?"

"School." Ichigo said, just loud enough for everyone to hear. 

"So…" Kagome was still curious. She had a vague idea what an arrancar and reiatsu were from the conversations around her, but no idea what a hollow was. "… Is this a bad thing?" Everyone looked at her like she was crazy. "… I'll take that as a yes then." She ended awkwardly

After a moment of silence the 1st squad captain spoke again. "It is obvious that this Aizen's doing. He is sending an army, so we will sent one of our own."

"Can I go?" Everyone looked back at Kagome, again, like she was crazy.

"Why would you want to go?" Asked the largest captain in the group, who happened to be a dog with orange-brown fur.

With a sigh Kagome paused before explaining. "I've gone over four hundred years without being able to talk with anyone." This got a gasp or a raised eyebrow from most present. "I met someone a few hours ago that could see me, but she attacked me and burned my only clothes. Now I met you all, and although you attacked me at first, we seemed to have worked it out.

"I have no idea what a hollow is, and I can only guess what an arrancar is. But being how that's seems to mean they are allies with the lady that attacked me then I have no reason to like them. It also seems to mean that they are your enemies. So if helping you fight them will get you to trust me then I will do. I am still human no matter how long ago I've died. I do need friends."

At the end of this speech everyone else present was in thought.

Finally the 1st squad captain answered. "Very well. If you wish to help, then you may join the fight with us."


	4. Boredom

**AN: **I thank my reviews for your comments, and to my first reviewer, AKARY YAMI, I must say, sorry, but no. I will not change here outfit before the battle. I will probably change them afterwards though. The reason is, I am evil and wish to give her more problems. MWAHAHAHA.  
**Phantom: **That is a good point. How strong is Kagome? I will not tell you yet, just remember that she has been on her own for 400+ years. I will not make her a weakling.  
Also there will be many new questions that this chapter will give, just bear with me. I will try to answer them in upcoming chapters

* * *

**Boredom**

The battle party had been chosen. It consisted of the entirety of Squad 11, being the top battle squad, the captain and lieutenant of Squad 10, about half of Squad 6 and their captain and lieutenant, the lieutenant, third, fourth, fifth seat of Squad 4, for a field hospital, Ichigo, Rukia, and an annoyed Kagome.

"Why can't I go change?" She asked a very annoyed 10th Squad captain. She was still wearing the arrancar clothes.

"Everyone in this group has already been told that you are our side in this battle and there is no time to change. The portal is right up ahead." Toshiro responded, looking forward, trying to ignore the enraged woman next to him. Trying, and failing.

"That's not the problem. I only put on these clothes as an alternative to walking around naked. That doesn't mean I like them."

The group continued to walk toward the now in sight gateway. They were all silent, trying to listen to the argument for two reasons. One, it was very entertaining, and two, so that if Toshiro got too mad they could get away as soon as possible.

"Will the outfit cause you to be unable to fight to your full extent in some way?" Toshiro countered, closing his eyes in frustration, grinding his teeth.

"No, but that-"

"Will it slow you down in any situation?"

"No, still, why can't you see why I need to change. Wearing this just makes me feel uncomfortable." Kagome said, looking down at her very exposed stomach.

"Without a good reason, I will not let you just leave to got change."

"Uhg, you know what, this is a woman thing. Is there a woman here who could let me go and change?" With this said Kagome looked around the battle party like she could recognize someone who matched here description.

"There is one. My lieutenant. Who, if you recall, you took hostage!" Toshiro was now yelling.

"That's because you tried to kill me!" Kagome shouted back.

"Because you came here dressed like that!" Toshiro stopped walking when he said this and glared at Kagome.

Kagome stopped and glared back at Toshiro, still yelling. "Then can I go change?"

"NO!"

The rest of the group had already stopped as well. Kagome bent down to Toshiro, their faces inches apart, lightning shooting from their eyes. Any of the observers who didn't want to die of frostbite that was certain to be upon them soon, took a step away from the duo.

Both of their hands were twitching, like they were itching to grab their swords and thunder was now following the lightning. No one dared to try and stop them. They did however, dare to take another step back.

Just when it seemed like there would be casualties before they even got to the real world. Toshiro and Kagome, simultaneously, stood up and turned away from each other with a "Huh!"

When the echoing thunder stopped, the gateway opened, a blinding light and dozens of black butterfly coming through.

The captains in the front began walking through the gate, followed by Toshiro, Kagome, and the rest of the group with Renji, Ichigo, and Rukia in the back.

"The start of a great friendship, huh?" Said Renji after the mentioned arguers were engulfed in the light.

With a sigh, the last three entered the portal and the light disappeared.

Boring

And annoying

That was all that it was, boring, and annoying.

The walk through the gate was tolerable, barely, but tolerable. The walk through the town though, that was a living nightmare. No hollows attacked, it was predicted they would appear half an hour after the group had exited the portal.

The walk through the portal was short, and with only each other to be able to be seen, there was an unexplainable feeling that you shouldn't talk. So, thus, there were no arguments.

Once they arrived in the living world however, that was different.

Byakuya, the designated leader of the battle party, had explained about the time when the hollows would come. Wrong thing to say.

At hearing this one person in the group was furious at another, slightly shorter, group member.

Kagome started screaming at Toshiro, who, unfortunately, knew about the estimated arrival time of said hollows.

Her reasoning was that, since he knew about it, he should of let her change before they went through the portal. The argument this time around was less about convincing Toshiro, and more about just yelling at him for the sake of yelling at him. Even if this was true, there were still just as many glares, just as many random lightning bolts, and just as many cautious steps to not die.

Even with the uncontrollable argument, the group had made it to the determined hollow arrival area, Ichigo's school, in just under twenty minutes. The entire trip no one was ever less then ten feet away from the origin of the lightning.

Soon after they arrived at the school that was currently in the last period of the day, Kagome and Toshiro came to an agreement not to speak to each other. Giving everyone blissful silence.

Some time passed and a few conversations had started up between the otherwise bored shinigami. Kagome was sitting under a tree out of the sunlight. She was apparently asleep. The only other near her was Zaraki and his lieutenant. Yachiru was trying to get "Ken-chan" to get up and play. Said captain was lying in the grass eight feet away from Kagome ignoring the pin haired girl.

After stopping the useless pulling on random articles of the larger man's clothing, Yachiru heard sound that sounded like something sniffing.

"A dog?" The young girl said looking around, and to her disappointment, there was no dog.

The disappointment turned to confusion when she saw that it was Kagome that was making the sound, she was sniffing the air. Her eyes were open and she looked slightly confused.

"Why are you doing that?" Asked the child. At hearing this, Zaraki followed her gaze to see Kagome, but he did not speak.

"No reason." Answered Kagome, she had stopped sniffing the air but still looked confused. Turning to the two in front of her she continued. "Tell me, are hollows those monster things that have a white mask type thing and a hole somewhere in their chest?"

"Yah, they big meanies."

"Ok then, and you." Kagome said looking at Zaraki. "You're the guy who was sad that you didn't get to fight me right?"

"Yah why? You looked strong."

"Thank you." She smiled then continued. "So does that mean you like to fight?"

Zaraki thought about that for a second. "Only if whoever I'm fighting isn't weak, yah I do."

"Ok, in that case…" Kagome stood up and stretched her back and arms. "You will probably want to get up for what's about to happen."

Before either of the two could say anything Kagome was walking away, towards a group of the rest of the shinigami.

"What do you think she meant by that Ken-chan?" Asked Yachiru as Zaraki stood up.

"Don't know, but whatever it is, I have a feeling it isn't going to be boring." With that Yachiru laughed and jumped on Zaraki's back as they followed Kagome.

Toshiro had been sitting under a tree as well, surrounded by all the other shinigami except for Kagome, Zaraki, and Yachiru. He had his eyes closed, but when he felt a now familiar reiatsu coming closer, he opened them to see Kagome walking straight towards him at a slow pace.

Everyone else stopped talking when they saw her as well. When she was thirty feet away she casually drew her sword without stopping, Toshiro narrowed his eyes but remained silent.

The rest of the shinigami had cleared a wide path, expecting another argument, but neither spoke. Toshiro remained suspicious, while Kagome's face was unreadable.

As she slowly approached, Kagome flipped her sword into the air and caught it by the tip of the blade. She brought it behind her head, and in one swift movement, she chucked it forward. It flew through the air and struck the tree a couple inches to the right of Toshiro's head.

All was silent for only a moment before Toshiro's face showed his fury. He jumped to his feet and grabbed his sword.

"Bitch, what did you-" He was cut off by a scream, a hollow's scream, from behind him.

He glanced back to see that the sword had not hit the tree, it hit what was beside it, a hollow.

It had ripped through the air as hollows do to come to the living world. It had ripped though space itself, but nowhere near enough for it to come through. The rip was only a foot wide, and only one hand and part of the mask of the average sized hollow could be seen. Kagome's sword was a foot deep in the hollow's forehead.

Toshiro stared at it with wide eyes. _"I wasn't able to sense it."_ He thought, _"It would have killed me before I would have even known what had happened."_ Toshiro was brought back to his senses when he saw a hand grab the sword's grip. He followed the arm to find it was Kagome. Her face expressionless, her brown eyes revealing nothing.

She put her foot on the still screaming hollow and pulled her sword out, kicking the hollow back into the rip in space. Without saying anything she turned and walked off to her left. She walked past the silent, and very scared, shinigami. Bringing her sword up, she slashed downward right as another rip appeared and a hollow came through, only to scream in pain as its mask was cut in half. Before it fully disintegrated, Kagome jumped backwards over the crowd, and stabbed the air. Again, right after another rip with another hollow appeared. It too screamed in pain and disintegrated.

The whole group was staring at her dumbstruck. Ignoring them, Kagome looked to the sky. Following her gaze, the rest of the group looked up just in time to see multiple rips in the sky, each quickly growing to fifty feet across.

"Wow, that's a lot of hollows." Someone in the crowd said, and he was right. Dozens of hollows were coming out of each hole every minute, not seeming to stop.

The emerging hollows did not separate, nor did they attack. They simply circled around the rips, high in the sky.

"This isn't good…" Said another person in the group.

"Isane!" Said Byakuya, calling the 4th Squad lieutenant.

"Hai." Isane answered, taking her gaze away from the horrific sight in the sky.

"Get a hold of Soul Society, tell them to remove the restriction on captains and lieutenants.

"Hai, which ones may I ask?"

"All of them." Muttered Renji, just loud enough for everyone to hear. He was still looking at the sky.

Anyone who followed his gaze paled just as he did. The hollows had stopped pouring out, but that wasn't very reassuring. There were hundreds of them, far more then the expected two hundred. But, that wasn't the biggest problem. Through the largest of the rips they were able to see a Menos Grande, it stared at the group of shinigami and slowly stepped out of the rip in space. Behind it were the glowing red eyes of countless more.

They did, however, hear a laugh, a human laugh. They all turned to it to see a white haired man dressed in a shinigami outfit, but it had the colors of Kagome's "Borrowed" clothes. He had a fox like smile and was shaking as he quietly laughed.

Matsumoto seamed to be the most surprised by his appearance. She muttered to herself, "Gin…"


	5. Trapped

**Trapped**

"_Hello there, who might you be?"_

_A very young Rangiku Matsumoto looked up to see who had spoken. She was so hungry she could barely make out his white hair, but she could tell he was smiling._

"_Well, if your hungry like it looks like you are, then you must have it too. You have reiatsu don't you?"_

_Rangiku's vision was slowly focusing. The boy in front of her was about her age and was wearing the same, low-end clothing she had on._

"_Here." The boy held out his hand to the almost unconscious girl. "I'm Gin."_

The memory, even if I had almost died there, was a pleasant one to me. That was the first time I saw you.

The last time, wasn't so pleasant.

"_Oh, pity." Said Gin looking down at Rangiku. He was on a chunk of earth, being pulled into the air by a pillar of yellow light. Above him was a rip in the sky. Dozens of Menos Grande were wiggling around it. "If you held on a bit longer you would have been caught in the light too."_

That was the last time I saw you…

The last time,

until now.

* * *

"Ichimaru!" Screamed Toshiro, lunging at the laughing ex-captain.

Their swords collided and both jumped back. "Now, now, captain. Whatever could be wrong?" Said Gin in a soft voice, still smiling.

"**Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!"** At assaying this, a large dragon, made out of water and ice came from the tip of Toshiro's blade. Swinging his sword once, the dragon crashed into the ground just after Gin sidestepped.

Still smiling, Gin took a step back, holding his sword in a stabbing position. **"Shoot to Death, Shinso."** His blade extended forward straight at Toshiro.

Toshiro swiped his blade and the dragon reformed, blocking Gin's sword, freezing it in place. They were at a stand still. The other shinigami were about to get involved when Toshiro yelled, "Stay back! This is my fight."

"Now, now, this is very unnecessary captain. What is this about?" The only answer he got was a glare. "Oh whatever could the problem be?" His voice was getting slightly sarcastic. "Huh, Shiro-chan?"

At this, Toshiro snapped. He gave up on removing his sword from the ice, so instead he grabbed the crescent shaped blade that was attached with a chain to the grip. "I promised you that you would pay for making Hinamori spill blood!"

Toshiro threw the blade at Gin, who sidestepped causing the blade to only tear his clothes. He never stopped smiling.

Toshiro brought the chained blade and spun it above his head. He was about to swing it when he gasped and fell to the ground, vomiting blood. The ice binding the two swords together melted instantly. When Toshiro looked up he saw another man standing next to Gin. He had black hair and a blindfold.

"Tosen, you-" Toshiro was cut off, vomiting more blood.

Tosen just held up a baseball sized glass pyramid and calmly said. **"Five-Point Prison."**

The pyramid glowed for a second, then a giant semi-transparent, orange pyramid appeared around them. It was big enough that it had the rips the hollows were coming out of and the entire school grounds in.

A portal formed behind Tosen and Gin, who stepped into it. As it closed, Gin waved and said, "Bye, Bye."

"Damnit!" Toshiro punched the ground with his free hand before standing up.

"Get over it Hitsugaya." Stated Byakuya in a monotone voice. "Anyone know what this kidou is?" Everyone followed his gaze from the circling hollows to the strange pyramid.

"Hai, Ni-sama." It was Rukia. At Byakuya's raised eyebrow she continued. "I read about it in one of Urahara's books. The Five-Point Prison is a very advanced kidou. It creates a large five-sided pyramid shape barrier that is approximately three hundred meters wide and eight hundred meters in height. The barrier is indestructible, and will only go away if one of two conditions is met."

"Are you sure it's indestructible?" Asked Matsumoto.

"Yes."

"What are these conditions?" Asked Byakuya, still looking upwards.

"One, the creator of the barrier decides to destroy it or dies, and two, the total amount of reiatsu present in the barrier when it is created is brought down to half or lower." Answered Rukia.

"Will killing all of the hollows be enough?" Came a voice from the crowd.

"Maybe, but being how Gin and Tosen were both here and are now gone, that dropped the reiatsu level drastically."

"Good, then is that it?" Ichigo said more as a statement then a question, grabbing his sword like everyone else present.

"No… It's not… There is a problem." That got everyone to stop and turn to Rukia, who seemed reluctant to answer. "… Well the barrier is so dense with spirit particles that both shinigami and hollows alike will not get tired and will heal very rapidly."

"How is that a problem? We're still on even grounds right?"

"Yes, we are, but… That is for creatures that are used to sprit particles. For those who aren't, it raises their spirit level slightly. The most common effect in this case is that they are able to see spirits while in the barrier." Everyone was still confused as to why this is bad, Rukia saw this. "In our current situation, there is an entire school of humans that will now be able to see us and those hollows."

There was silence for a moment then, "WHAT!" Ichigo grabbed Rukia by the shoulders and was shouting in her face. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO?"

"I just did!"

"Quiet, both of you!" Shouted Toshiro. "You two are the only familiar faces to the school. I want you to find the Quincy and other two humans in the school, get everyone to the roof. That will be the easiest place to protect them. The five of you will guard them. Are they able to see us right now?" He looked at Rukia, who was no longer getting screamed at.

"No sir, the effect will slowly take effect. By now they could probably see a hollow or us if we were within thirty meters of them. By the time twenty minutes have passed, they will be able to see perfectly."

"Why do we have to guard them?" Ichigo was annoyed, again. "We will be more effective on the front line."

"Idiot." Muttered Byakuya, loud enough for all to hear. "Which do you think will be more appetizing to the hollow? A small group of powerful shinigami or a much larger group of weak humans that have suddenly obtained reiatsu?"

"I haven't thought of that… Ok, let's go." With a nod from Rukia, the two headed off towards the school.

"Isane, have you made contact with Soul Society yet?"

"Hai, I just finished explaining the situation, they are about to release the restriction seals of all captains and lieutenants present."

"Ok then." Zaraki was smiling like a madman, and he was one. "Let the fun begin."

"Ichigo, where are you going?" Rukia stopped running in front of the building while Ichigo went to the left.

"There's going to be chaos once we tell anyone, we have to get to Ishida, Chad, and Inoue first. Come on!" Ichigo responded without turning around.

Since that actually made sense, Rukia quickly followed him, running beside the wall. They stopped in front of what was their room window, three stories up.

"I'll go, you stay here and keep a look out, I can't fight well inside." Ichigo then looked at the swirling mass of hollows in the sky before continuing. "They are about to attack, cover me."

Rukia nodded and reminded him. "They can see and hear you perfectly only if you're close enough, same with hollows. Now go!"

Ichigo jumped up the three and landed on the open windowsill of his classroom. He was expecting gasps maybe even a scream, but not what he got as a first response from his teacher.

"Kurosaki, you're late"

Ichigo nearly fell backwards, to a most likely fatal fall, at what his teacher just said.

"Shut up! I just came through your third story window from the ground and that's what you say?"

"No excuses! The school day is almost over and you are late!"

Ichigo rubbed his temples and tried desperately not to strangle his psychopathic teacher, who was writing him as late in her attendance book.

After a moment of mental calming, and a sigh, Ichigo spoke again. "Ishida, Chad, Inoue." Said persons were all present in the room thinking either. _"They can see him?"_ or _"What is our teacher doing?"_

"There's is no time to explain fully, but… There are three captains four lieutenants. All with their restriction seals off, countless hollows and menos, and a barrier keeping all of this in. We need to get everyone to the roof as soon as possible."

"What the hell you talkin' about?" Came a voice from the back of the class. It was a kid, Ichigo didn't remember his name, but he did remember that he was someone who used to beat him up because of his hair. Looks like he still had hatred towards Ichigo. "Captains? Lieutenants? Hollows? You come in here dressed like that and you expect us to believe you? Why should we go to the roof? All the people you just called are your friends. It's only a practical joke." The last part was to the whole class.

There was the sound of multiple hollows screaming outside. Everyone, except for Ichigo's, turned to the windows and gasped. Outside were a dozen flying monsters they never saw anything like before, and further in the distance were other figures but they couldn't be made out completely.

"If you don't want my help then I suppose you know how to kill those?" Said Ichigo in a calm voice, still not having turned around. The boy who spoke up before was speechless, and afraid. "There are hundreds more of those things out there, some incredibly powerful. And you can't leave here till they're all dead."

Everyone in the room, besides Ichigo, Chad, Inoue, and Ishida, screamed and backed against the far wall. The hollows were coming this way. Ichigo grabbed the sword on his back, holding it to his side. The bandages fell off to reveal the sword. If it were possible, the observers' eyes widened even more.

Ichigo stepped down from the windowsill and onto the floor. He then turned suddenly. A blinding blue light filled the room.

When it was possible to see again, they saw the entire wall was gone, but so were the hollows. Ichigo stood there with his large sword over his shoulder.

He turned to the small audience slowly, his eyes glowing white. "You're all trapped in here, I suggest you try and survive."


	6. Blue Bird

**Blue Bird**

As soon as Ichigo and Rukia were out of sight the hollows attacked. The location of the arrancars that were supposedly there were unknown, but the were plenty of other hollows to hide behind. Most of the menos grande had come out of the rip and came to a startling count of twenty-four of them, a few more were still visible inside the rip. At this point the sky was barely visible with even more hollows coming out.

Zaraki was already running into the crowd laughing like the maniac he was. Yachiru was on his back chanting, "Go, Ken-chan!" The third and fifth seat of his squad followed behind, and then broke of in different directions, leaving a trail of disintegrating bodies.

A bright blue flash could be seen from the school that destroyed a portion of the wall and a large amount of hollows that were unfortunate enough to be caught in the blast.

The members of fourth squad present set up their own circular barrier, about twenty feet in diameter and ten feet high. They were inside drawing various symbols on the ground for quick healing when necessary.

"Abarai." Said Byakuya not having moved yet.

"Yes?"

"Lead the rest of the squad, I will deal with the menos."

"Yes sir. Come on!" He yelled the last part to the squad, motioning with his hand for them to follow him as he ran into battle.

"You three." Byakuya continued, pointing at three members of squad eleven.

"Hai!"

"Help forth squad by guarding them when necessary and helping the injured to the barrier they put up."

"Hai." The three ran back to the makeshift hospital, drawing their swords.

"Half of squad ten will go with Hitsugaya and take the hollows in the air, the other half go with Matsumoto and go against the hollows on the ground."

"Hai." The rest of the group dispatched as said.

Byakuya was about to go to his job when he heard a voice. "What about me?" Not recognizing the voice, he turned around to see Kagome. Her blade still dripping with the blood of the hollows she just killed.

After thinking for a moment he spoke. "How often do you have to fight hollows?"

"If you mean these things attacking us, then a couple attack me every week or so."

"Very well, then can you use your reiatsu to walk in the air?"

"I don't know what reiatsu is, but yes I can."

"Then go assist Hitsugaya."

"Who?"

"The one you were arguing with." Without another word, Byakuya disappeared with a flash step.

"Damn." Kagome said to herself, now alone with a raging battle around her. "How did I know that was going to happen?"

Kagome instantly took off into the air after said captain, slashing hollows on her way there.

When he came into view she called to him. He turned around, and when he saw his face became a combination between confused and angry.

"What do you want?" He asked when she was a few feet away from him.

"The guy with the black hair and a problem with all things happy, told be to help you." That was the best she could describe Byakuya, not knowing the name of anyone here besides Ichigo, Rukia, Rangiku, and now, Toshiro.

With a sigh, Toshiro jumped back into the fight, every now and again shouting an order to one of squad eleven. Kagome went in the opposite direction, fighting as well.

The fight for her was fairly easy. Almost every slash took down another hollow. Just because she didn't fight these for a job didn't mean she couldn't beat them. She remained close to the group for not wanting to be yelled at.

She fought for a few minutes, realizing that her clothes were actually helpful. As much as she hated it, she had to admit the lack of stray cloth allowed her to move more freely than her old kimono. Even the skirt wasn't hard to move in as she thought it would be.

"_No! No! Bad Kagome! No liking the clothes! You got them off something you killed and they have caused you nothing but trouble!"_ She tried to convince herself, taking her mind off the fighting, but never stopped killing the hollows with ease.

But she found it hard to try and keep a reason to argue with the small boy she saw fighting a little ways off, being how she actually found them comfortable.

She was about to try and argue with herself when the hollows all backed away from Toshiro and the rest of the group. She had wandered away more then she thought. The shinigami in the quite large circle of unattacking hollows, tensed.

"My, my what a surprise." Came a voice then five figures appeared within the circle of hollows. There were three male and two female. All but one of them looked like an average person. Each had a hole visible somewhere in their skin, a part of a mask on their face, and clothes resembling Kagome's.

"A captain? This is a surprise." Said one of the males.

"Awww, he looks sooooo cute!" Said the smaller of the females.

"What is all of this arrancar?" Said Toshiro, ignoring the earlier outburst. "Why the all out war? You know that you will lose."

"Aizen-sama doesn't seem to think so." Answered mentioned fat arrancar. "You may have twenty shinigami with you now, but they are all weaklings."

"And there are five of us here." Put in another. "We can take you easily."

"Wrong." They all glanced to the edge of the circle to see Kagome walking forward. Her blade in-hand and dripping with blood. "There are six."

The arrancar looked confused but not suspicious, while the shinigami looked angry.

"Who are you?" Asked the taller female. Kagome stopped beside the one male that had not spoken yet. "I don't recognize you from when we came through the rip."

"I was already here, Gin-sama told me to come here by other means."

"What's your name?" Asked the male she was next to.

"Kagome Higurashi, arrancar number fifty seven." She said in a monotone voice, not looking at anything in particular.

"Huh." Said the taller female, seeing her blood soaked sword. "You've been killing anything?"

"While I've had a hard time finding and arrancars, I ran into plenty of shinigami. All of which suffered a sudden stab wound." She answered, again in a monotone voice.

During this whole conversation, Toshiro was glaring at Kagome with much hatred. He was about to charge at her when she suddenly looked right at him, and winked.

Toshiro froze, the arrancars didn't seem to see it, and neither did the rest of the shinigami. His eyes widened when he saw Kagome raise her sword and point it at Toshiro and said. "Mind if I fight the captain first, I don't like the glares he's giving me."

Toshiro had no idea what to do. _"Did she really just do that? Was she acting this whole time or just now?"_ He had realized before Kagome came into the picture that they would not be able to win against these arrancars without much casualty, but if she's acting now then this would be over quickly.

Kagome then mouthed the words, _"Trust me."_ Then motioned with her eyes to the arrancar next to her. Toshiro understood.

"Fine, why not." Said the arrancar, not catching the silent conversation between the two.

Kagome took a battle stance, her hair falling down and covered her face from the arrancars, but Toshiro could still see it. To the arrancar, she seemed to be planning an attack, but the look she was giving Toshiro was a questioning one.

He looked back at her, also taking a stance. _"Can I trust her?"_ After another moment of thought, he gave a small nodded. She gave a kind smile in return, and then her face became serious.

They both shifted slightly, and then charged at each other. When their blades should of collided. They went right past each other, looking at each other from the corner of their eyes.

Kagome went to the arrancar on the other side of the circle and cut his head clean off. Toshiro went to the one that was next to Kagome and stabbed him in the forehead. While the shinigami were completely confused, the arrancar understood immediately.

The short girl turned and jumped at Toshiro, whose sword was still in the arrancar's head. Kagome, seeing this, lightly tossed her sword into the air and caught it by the tip. With a flick of her wrist it went sailing at a high velocity.

It struck on the girl's wrist, causing a deep cut, and for her to drop her sword. Toshiro then yanked his sword out of the other arrancar and slashed downwards. It cut through the small arrancar's shoulder and came out her waist, cutting her in half.

That is when the shinigami finally understood what had happened, and all went to attack the second female of the group.

Three of the shinigami were stuck. Only one appeared to be dead. Then the arrancar was struck through her arm causing her to flinch for a moment where all the other able shinigami stabbed her as well, killing her.

At this point Kagome was chasing a hollow that had her sword stuck in it's one eye from her throw, and was flying around blind. It was colliding with every other hollow. "Get back here!" She yelled at it. She finally grabbed its tail and yanked it down. She grabbed her sword and ripped it out, destroying it in the process.

The only arrancar that was left was the one that happened to make Kagome angry. He was a fat male, looking to weight about two hundred pounds, the hole that marked him as a hollow was in his chest so his shirt stopped above it to show it and a disgustingly large stomach.

He sounded just as angry as he looked, for obvious reasons. "You bastards. You lucked out with that and you!" He said the last part pointing at an angry Kagome. "You dare betray Aizen-sama?"

"I don't know an Aizen, nor am I an arrancar, but then again, you're not the first to mistake me for one." She said, gripping her sword tighter. She seemed to be getting angrier, causing all present to become confused. "Four times, including this one I mistaken for an arrancar. And only now do I learn that this fat ass in front of me is what I was mistaken for!" She was now screaming. "How the hell did they think I looked anything like you?"

Everyone, even the hollows, backed away in fear as pink aura appeared around Kagome and formed a sphere.

She held her sword out and spoke softly. "Hitsugaya." Said person looked up at his name being called, still afraid. An angry woman is a dangerous woman. "I saw what you, Rukia, and Gin all did when you said then name of your sword. What would you think if I said I could do that too?"

Toshiro's eyes widened. _"That's a zanpakuto? She's a shinigami?"_ He thought in surprise.

Kagome pointed her sword down and spoke. **"Sing to the Setting Sun, Aokakesu"**

The blade glowed pink for a moment then transformed. The flower that made up the hilt grew slightly and turned white and along the flat side the blade, bright blue feathers, about three inches long, came out.

The aura around Kagome died away and she spoke again. "My swords name means blue bird." She pointed it at the arrancar. "And every bird has different songs it sings. One they sing at day." The flower-like hilt turned golden and the blade started to hum.

She brought the sword up and slowly moved it in a large circle. Where the tip of the blade moved, a trail of glowing golden energy was left. The tip of the blade was brought back to the starting point, making a perfect circle of energy.

"**Merido-Dai."** A ball of white light appeared in the center of the circle. A moment later it exploded. There was no force, only a very bright light light. The arrancar, hollows, and shinigami screamed as the light blinded them.

The arrancar took a step back and rubbed his eyes. He opened them but could only see spots. He squinted but could still not make out any images. He then heard a voice behind him, Kagome.

"Then they have a song they sing at night." Though no one could see it, the hilt on Kagome's sword became violet, the blade once again hummed. She pointed it at the blind arrancar's back. **"Merido-Yabun."**

A cloud of purple energy surrounded the blade, making only the grip visible. It swirled around it as she slowly brought the blade down and through the arrancar's torso, yet it did not leave a cut. A moment later, the arrancar screamed in pain and fell onto his knees. He clutched the place where the blade passed through him. He wanted to continue scream, but seemed to be low on breath. He fell on his side, still clutching his chest. His eyes felt heavy and he could no longer scream, even though he was still in pain.

He was tired and the last thing he saw before he fell asleep was Kagome. Her sword had returned to normal, it's hilt white, and feather still along the flat side of the blade. She had it positioned over his head. The arrancar fell asleep just as the blade made contact with is skin.

Toshiro was able to see again to see Kagome walking over to him and the still blind group. "What was that?" He asked slightly annoyed. There were still spots in his vision but he could make out the image of Kagome clearly. She was sheathing her now sealed zanpakuto, and stopped a few feet away from Toshiro.

"That is what my sword does." She said, trying to remain calm but was slightly annoyed by his expression.

"Which was what exactly?" He wasn't so annoyed now as he could see fine. The rest of the group seemed to be regaining their sight as well. Kagome looked completely unfazed by the previous light.

With a sigh, Kagome answered. "Merido-Dai, or _Melody of the Day,_ is an attack that blinds everyone who can see it, besides myself. The hollows seemed to have run away after being blinded." They both looked around after that to see it was true.

"And the other one?" Toshiro was no longer angry, and quite surprised that she could do something like that.

"Merido-Yabun, or _Melody of the Night,_ creates a dense amount of energy around the blade. It turns the blade into air so it cannot cut and the energy is so dense that you can only move the blade at a very slow pace, but, if the energy touches an enemy, it violently rips away a large portion of their um… Reiatsu, I think you call it. It will hurt, but it makes one so tired that they fall asleep despite the pain." She finished and looked at the group of shinigami.

All of which were thinking the same thing. _"Damn, I glad she isn't our enemy."_

There was a pause, and then Toshiro spoke up. "You told me to trust you. I believe now that is what you really want." He paused. "After what you just did, I don't see how I can't trust you."

Kagome gave a wide smile. "So you forgive me for taking Rangiku-chan hostage?"

"When did you start calling her Rangiku-chan?" Toshiro asked, a little taken back, they barely knew each other.

"Huh…" Kagome put her finger to her chin and thought for a second. "I guess just now."

Toshiro sighed. When he looked up Kagome was holding her hand out to him. Toshiro stared at it in confusion, and then realized what she wanted. He took her had and shook it firmly.

"Kagome Higurashi." She said still shaking his hand and smiled.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya." He tried not to smile in return, but the corner of his lips curled up slightly, despite himself.

They dropped their hands then Kagome asked. "Can I give you a nickname?"

"Probably not, why?"

"Well, hearing your name, and then your hair is white." _"Oh please tell me not her too."_ Toshiro thought to himself. "Can I call you Shiro-chan?"

"HELL NO!"

Normally, his face would be scary, but Kagome saw it another way, since it belonged to a twelve year old. She tried to stop herself, but couldn't and burst out laughing.

"STOP LAUGHING!"

Of course she didn't and he yelled more. The rest of the shinigami sighed, knowing the only other person that called him that.

For that moment, they had all forgotten about the war waging around them, but that was ok for now.


	7. The Rip

**AN:** Ok, l got a lot of reviews thank you to all of you. I was very worried that people would hate Kagome's zanpakuto, but I'm glad I was wrong.

**To all of those out there that want a love interest with Byakuya:** Probably not sorry. The reason is because I don't think that I can write romance good at all. And not with Byakuya because he is actually the one captain that I can't seem to get his personality right.

**Minogaki TenTen:** The plot will not really start up until after the battle ends. The reason is that I made the battle is for two reasons. **One:** To show Kagome's zanpakuto.**Two:** To get some people to trust her

* * *

**The Rip**

Kagome stopped laughing shortly after she started. Not because of Toshiro's yelling, or that she just didn't find it funny anymore, the face he was making while he yelled just made her laugh harder. She stopped because a large shadow fell over the group, followed by an eerie red glow. Only then did one of the group members look up, he then screamed, "Menos!"

They all looked up then jumped away just in time to dodge the cero that was aimed at them. They stopped a little ways away and looked back at the large hollow.

"What's Byakuya doing?" Asked one of the shinigami. "He was supposed to take care of the menos, how did it get this far from the rip?"

The menos mentioned seemed to have forgotten them and walked off in a random direction.

"Probably because of that." Said another shinigami pointing to the rip. It was even larger now and still, it reached all the way to the ground on the other side of the barrier. More menos and hollows were coming out of it. There was a large pink mass floating in front of the rip. It was moving around and cutting through many of the menos and hollows. Sometimes it would split into multiple pieces and destroy many targets at once.

"Damnit not good." Muttered Toshiro. "Looks like Byakuya has already released his bankai. This is getting out of hand." After a pause he started again. "How many of you can still fight?"

"Most of us are injured in some way, but we can keep going. Except him." Answered one of the shinigami, gesturing to an unconscious shinigami who was thrown over another's shoulder. "He was badly injured when we attacked one of the arrancars. We need to get him to squad four quickly."

"Alright then, you there take-"

"I'll take him." Said Kagome. She was looking off towards the rip and swirling pink mass that was Byakuya's bankai, she had been for the entire conversation.

"What?" Was all Toshiro could say.

"I think I know what has to be done, but I need to ask someone for details. I can't do that while fighting."

Toshiro thought for a moment. "Ok, do you remember the way to squad four?"

"Is that the people that set up a barrier for the wounded?"

"Yes."

"I remember." Kagome then turned around and walked to the man with the injured shinigami over his shoulder. He handed him to Kagome, and she put him over her shoulder.

She was about to leave when Toshiro remembered something. "Wait." Kagome turned around and looked at him confused. "When you introduced yourself to the arrancars, how did you know to give them a number?"

"That's what the one I fought back in the real world when I meat Ichigo and Rukia said to me. Of course I had no idea what it meant, but I figured it couldn't hurt to say it just now." Kagome then looked at something behind Toshiro. "You might want to go kill that thing." The followed her gaze to the menos that just failed to kill them. "It's heading towards the school. I have no idea how strong Ichigo is, but you might as well help him while you can."

With a nod Toshiro turned back to Kagome. "Good bye."

"Sayonara." And with that she left.

After Kagome disappeared from view Toshiro looked back at the menos. "Let's go."

Isane was healing one of nine shinigami present inside the barrier. Luckily six of them were in stable condition and the other two were being healed by the forth and fifth seat of her squad. The third seat was keeping the barrier in full power. As Rukia had said, the Five-Point Prison had made them never get tired despite that they had been doing high level healing for hours now. Even better, it seemed that the injured were healing much faster and the barrier around the field hospital was stronger, not a single hollow had gotten inside.

"Take over for me." She said to the third seat that nodded and moved over next to her.

The barrier around them was simple. It was an opaque white, so it was visible but easy to see through. It could withstand a massive onslaught and could only be opened by someone who put it up.

Isane rested for a moment when she heard a knock on the barrier. She turned around, expecting an injured shinigami. Her eyes widened and she screamed when she saw a woman dressed as an arrancar. There was no way she could take one on.

The three, squad eleven guards that Byakuya assigned to protect them heard her then saw the arrancar.

They lunged at her she simply jumped back a couple of feet and yelled at them. "Hey stop that!" The guards were puzzled by her tone, it was actually mad. "It's me!" They still looked confused. "I came with you through the gate, I'm not actually an arrancar."

Finally the guards realized it was the girl that was assigned to the battle squad, though they didn't know a single thing about them. They sheathed their swords and finally noticed the shinigami draped over the woman's shoulder. "Who's that" Asked on of the guards.

"He was injured badly, can you open up the barrier?"

Hearing the whole conversation, Isane did as she was asked and made a hole for the woman to step through. She did and laid the injured shinigami down as the hole closed behind her.

Kagome sighed loudly when she saw all the currently conscious shinigami stare at her with suspicion. _"This is officially the worst clothes I have ever picked."_ She thought to herself.

Isane turned away from Kagome to look at the shinigami she had brought in. He had a slash across his chest and a stab wound in is stomach, along with a few broken ribs it looked like.

Isane began to heal the shinigami. She had thought that the other visitor would leave but she remained seated.

"Do you need medical attention?" She asked not looking up from what she was doing.

"No."

"Then why are you still here?" Isane didn't put any venom in her voice, which Kagome appreciated.

"I wanted to ask you something but I didn't know how much you needed to concentrate. So I didn't speak."

"I can talk while healing. His wounds aren't that serious. What do you want to know?"

Kagome thought for a moment, trying to get the words together. "How much do you know about the rips the hollows make?"

This was not a question Isane was expecting, but felt no reason not to answer. "Not much I'm afraid. All that comes to mind is that only hollows can make them and they lead from this world to Hueco Mundo, the place where hollows come from."

"Do you know what they are made of?"

"What?"

"Every kind of portal has to have some kind of stabilizer. If you had to guess, what do you think stabilizes that?"

Isane thought for a moment. "Well I guess some kind of evil energy, but I really have no idea."

"Thanks." Kagome stood up. "That's what I wanted to hear."

Isane was very confused at that statement. She was about to ask what she meant when Kagome held her hand out to Isane.

"I'm Kagome Higurashi."

Isane looked at the hand extended to her, and then up at the smiling face. With a smile of her own, she grabbed her hand and shook it. "Isane Kotetsu."

Kagome let go of her hand and Isane looked back down to the still unconscious shinigami. "Um…" She looked back at Kagome who had a sheepish look. "Can I go now?"

"Huh? Oh right. Sorry." Isane then made another hole in the barrier and Kagome stepped out. "Goodbye." She called after her, unsure if she heard it.

The barrier closed again and Isane went back to healing. _"Why did she want to know that though?"_ She asked herself. _"What is she planning to do?"_

Kagome started running at top speed as soon as she was out of the barrier. She was not heading back to Toshiro. Instead she was going straight for the rip.

She ignored all of the hollows on her way there, knowing more were coming in anyway. She knew what she had to do, and was hopeful it will work.

As she got closer she was able to see that the large pink mass in front of the rip was actually made up of what looked like cherry blossom pedals. They were killing every hollow they could, but the rip was to big for the millions of pedals to kill all that was coming out.

Kagome saw someone under the mass. When she got closer she could tell it was the one who was in charge of the battle.

She stopped behind the man and spoke in an unsure voice. "Um… Hello… Um… Byakuya right?"

He glanced back at her. He did not expect to see her again during the battle, and figuring she was to weak to survive, he was surprised to see she didn't have a single injury. He was surprised, not like he showed it, but answered her. "Yes, that is my name. May you tell me how you know it?"

"Huh? Toshiro said that someone named Byakuya had released his bankai when he looked over here to that." She pointed to the swirling mass of pedals. "And since there is no one else around, I figured that was you."

Byakuya thought about what she said for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the hollows emerging from the rip, killing most of them. "Why are you here? I told you to assist Hitsugaya."

"Ya, there isn't much time for me to fully explain, and even if I did you wouldn't believe me."

"Then go back to Hitsugaya."

Kagome paused and thought how to put her words. She sighed and answered. "I can close the rip." Byakuya looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. "… Probably." He continued to stare at her. "If I'm right, then I can, but I need to get close to it, and when I'm closing it I won't be able to fight… I need you to protect me… Please?"

Byakuya turned away from her and thought. _"She thinks she can close it? That is unlikely, but might as well try. Unless… If she's actually the enemy then I'll be giving her a clear path to escape, but she would be more of a threat here so that makes no sense…"_

"Ok." He said out loud, not turning to her. "Go"

Kagome heard the commanding tone and took off immediately. They were about a hundred feet from were the rip was touching the ground. Kagome ran straight for it.

A hollow appeared in front of her and she instinctively reached for her sword. Before she could grab it however, a small number of the pedals cut it in half. The hollow disintegrated and Kagome continued running, not looking back.

She quickly closed the distance to the rip, the pedals clearing the way very well. The ground around the area the rip was touching was dieing. The grass was shriveled and brown while the dirt war dry and cracked.

Kagome stopped, bent her knees, and then launched herself into the air. She had gotten a high altitude when a shadow appeared in front of her. She looked forward to see a menos coming out of the rip, face to face with her.

Before she could even gasp, it was engulfed in pedals. When they cleared, there was nothing left.

She took a step forward on the air and put her hands on the rip. She was expecting for her hands to straight through, but they didn't. There was some kind of invisible surface. It wasn't hard, and Kagome could of pushed through it easily, but she didn't.

She rested her hands on the surface, and tried to clear her mind.

"_How long has it been?"_ She thought to herself. _"When was the last time I relied on this? I remember using it a few times after I died, but that was a long time ago. I hope I can still use it."_

She closed her eyes and blocked out all the sound, her mind clear. She waited for what seemed like forever until she felt a familiar warmth in her hands. She slowly opened her eyes to see a soft pink glow coming from under them. _"Thank goodness."_ The light brightened slightly. _"I can still use this."_

She closed her eyes again and pumped energy into her hands, into the light.

What happened next, was incredible.

The light grew instantly, spreading across the surface of the rip. It turned from a black to bright pink. It was different from the color of the pedals Byakuya was controlling, his were only reflecting light. This was giving off light. It was so bright, that the pink color nearly looked white.

The entire battle stopped and all went silent at the sight of the light. The edges of the rip began waver, then they slowly started to disappear, making the rip get smaller little by little.

It continued to get smaller until it was the size of a frisbee, Kagome's hands still resting on it. She opened her eyes again to see it, and gave a small smile.

With a flash of light it was gone. All of the other rips that were made had been fused with the larger one, and now it was gone, not a single rip remained. Kagome slowly descended back to the ground and landed in front of Byakuya, his face still emotionless.

Kagome fell to her knees and muttered quietly. "It's been a while… But I did it." That said, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell facedown on the ground, unconscious.


	8. Occasion

**Occasion**

Kagome woke up in a small room. It had white walls and no windows. She was on a bed in the middle of the room with a small table in the corner opposite of the door. Her sword was resting on the table, along with a bundle of clothes. The clothes she had taken from the arrancar were cleaned and next to the other clothes.

She lifted the small blanket to find she was only wearing a light sleeping kimono. She got up and sat on the side of the bed, taking in her surroundings.

"_Guess they took me back to Soul Society. Did we win?"_

She stood up slowly and walked to the door. She opened it slowly to find she was at the end of a wide hallway. On either side of the door was a guard, each holding some type of rod. When they saw her they nodded to each other and one took off down the hall.

Kagome looked at the other guard for an explanation.

"We were ordered to find 4th squad captain, Unohana when you woke up. Your previous clothes were cleaned and are located on the table with your zanpakuto and a set of new clothes. After you have been checked by the captain, you are requested for a meeting with the 13 squad captains in the meeting hall." He spoke all of this without looking at her.

"Did we win the battle?" Kagome asked, a little concerned.

"Yes, after the rip was destroyed we won shortly after and the barrier was destroyed. The students and teachers of the school have had their memory wiped and now believe that the visible damage was because of a lightning storm." He answered, again, not looking at her.

With a sigh of relief, Kagome turned around and went back into the room, closing the door behind her.

She walked over to the table with her clothes and sword. She first picked up the new clothes she was given. There were two robes, a white under robe, and a black one to be worn over it. There was also a white sash used for a belt and a pair of sandals and socks. The shinigami outfit.

She slipped out of the kimono she was in and put on the new robes and sash. The inside was rough and it irritated her skin. She could not move around easily, and the robes were uncomfortable.

"_How do they stand to use these things?"_

She continued to walk in circles, in hope that it would soften out. No luck.

She looked back at the arrancar clothes and thought. _"Those were much more comfortable then these. But those show too much in my opinion and I'm trying to get these people to trust me. Wearing the clothes of their enemies isn't a good idea. What to do…"_ She then got an idea.

She took the shinigami clothes back off and laid them on the bed. She grabbed the arrancar clothes and put them on. She then put the shinigami clothes on over those. She was happy with the results.

The robes only touched her skin at the arms and stomach. The skirt of the arrancar clothes protected her legs and she could move much more freely.

"_Is it a bad thing that I feel more comfortable in the clothes of my supposed enemies then that of the ones I'm trying to get to trust me?" _She let that thought slide and put on the socks she was given, but when she picked up the sandals, she was at a loss of what to do. They had many straps on them and she had no idea of were each one went.

That's when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in." She said, not looking up from the confusing piece of footwear.

A woman sat on the bed. Kagome recognized her from when she first entered Soul Society.

"Captain Unohana?" Kagome asked, unsure.

"Yes, Retsu Unohana. How did you know?" The woman replied with a smile.

"The guard said that's who they went to get." Kagome replied.

"Very well." The smile was still on her face. "I am simply her to make sure that you are ok, then to take you to a meeting."

"Well I'm fine, so can we just go?" Kagome was hopeful, she hated check-ups.

"That may be, but I still need to ask you some questions. You were out for a while after all."

"How long was I out?"

"Eight days."

"Eight days!" Kagome practically screamed at the smiling woman, but she didn't seem surprised.

"Yes, whatever you did, it certainly drained a lot of your energy. Now then, do you need help with that?" Unohana asked, gesturing to the sandals Kagome held.

"Yes please."

Unohana tied them onto Kagome's feet in a practiced knot that Kagome couldn't even follow. She then picked up the second sandal and did the same.

The captain then proceeded with asking various questions about Kagome's health that you would hear at any doctor appointment. When they were done, Unohana got up and walked to the door. Kagome quickly grabbed her sword and followed, tying the sheathed blade to her belt.

As they walked down the confusing hallways Kagome thought of something. "When will the other captains get to the meeting place?"

Unohana was still smiling. "They are probably there now. The guard that called me called the other captains and lieutenants as well."

They walked in silence for a bit longer before Kagome spoke again. "What is today's date?"

"I believe that it is the sixteenth of February."

Kagome's eyes widened. _"It's that day already?"_

"What about the year?" She asked out loud.

This confused the captain, but she answered. "2009."

"_Then it is tomorrow… Hope I can make it."_

At that thought Kagome looked up, realizing she was in a room she had visited before. Unohana walked over and took her spot. Behind her was Isane. All of the other captains were there as well, each with their lieutenants. All eyes were on Kagome.

She felt uncomfortable, almost all of the stares were unfriendly in someway. Only Toshiro was looking friendly, Unohana had the same smile as before, and Isane's face was not friendly, but not evil either.

The old man on the far side of the room spoke first. "I will get right to the point. We want to know how you destroyed the rip."

There was silence as Kagome thought for a moment. The wrong words could cost her. "It was actually more of a theory, I'm just glad that it worked."

"That is not what I asked." The old man had a hard voice, full of command. "Was it an ability of your zanpakuto?"

"Zanpak-what?"

"Your sword. From the report captain Hitsugaya has given me, it appears that that is a zanpakuto, and that you know how to release its shikai."

"Shikai?"

Now the captain-commander was getting annoyed. "When you said its name and it became more powerful."

"Oh. Then no, it was not something my zanpak, um… zanpakuto can do."

"Then how did you do it?"

Kagome paused again, thinking carefully what to say before she spoke. "When I was alive, I had… powers."

"Powers?"

"Yes, and, I seem to be able to use them now as well, even though I rarely do."

"Why do you not use them as much?" Asked one of the captains. He had long white hair and a kind face. He had two people behind him.

"They are just… Harder to use now that I'm no longer living. I guess they just aren't meant as something someone who is dead should be able to use." Kagome said the last part with an angry tone, everyone heard it.

"Does it make you angry that you can't use these powers willingly, now that you are no longer living?" Asked the white haired man.

"Huh? No. Why?" Kagome was now confused. Then she realized what he meant. "Oh, no, um… When I was alive, I had a few… Meetings with a dead woman who had the same powers as me… We didn't really get along."

"You could see ghosts when you were alive?" It was now Toshiro who spoke up.

"No. She was reincarnated into a new body by a witch."

"A witch? That seems unlikely." Spoke the dog captain.

Kagome glared at him and continued. "Fire hundred years ago demons were very much real. They lived all over Japan, maybe even the rest of the world, but I don't know. With something that wants to eat you around every corner, you don't take much notice in witches as… Unusual."

"Demons? That sounds interesting." Said probably the strangest captain present. He had ghostly white skin with his face being black. He had some kind of yellow metal things over each of his ears, and his blue hair puffed up in a way that seemed to use a lot of hairspray. "I would love to experiment on one."

Many other present sighed at that. Then the man with long white hair looked at Kagome with a confused face and asked. "Wait, just now you said five hundred years ago, but when we first had a meeting you said you died four hundred years ago."

"No, I didn't." Kagome answered. "I said I hadn't been able to talk to anyone for the past four hundred years, I died almost five hundred years ago." This just got more confused looks. "Right after I died, living people could see and talk to me still. Then about a hundred years later, about the same time the demons died out, they could no longer see me and I was alone, aside from the occasional human soul."

While everyone else was taking this new information in, the 12th squad captain spoke up. "Do you think that with demons existing is what caused you to be able to be seen?'

"I don't know."

"Huh…" The captain began scratching his chin, his abnormally long middle fingernail tapping his cheek in a rhythmic beat.

"Where did you get your zanpakuto?" Asked the elderly man.

"What do you mean?" Kagome was confused again, and the captain-commander was annoyed again.

"Normally, one goes to the academy and during their training they will eventually be able to obtain their zanpakuto. I assume that is not your case."

"No. When I woke up after I died I wasn't wearing the clothes I wore when I died, I don't know if that means anything. I was wearing a yellow kimono that was recently destroyed by an arrancar, and lying next to me on the ground was my sword. I had never seen it before then, but I felt the need to take it with me. About ten years later I learned its name, and that's it."

The 12th squad captain spoke up again. "What type of demons was there? What did they look like?" He was still focused on the demon aspect of the story.

"They were all mostly based off of animals and they looked like whatever animal that was." Seeing that the slightly creepy captain was looking for more, Kagome tried to think of something else to say. "Um… There were spider demons, bird demons, snake demons, cat demons… and dog demons." She muttered the last part and looked at the floor, her hair covering her face.

No one knew what to say after that. Minutes passed and Kagome finally looked up, her face emotionless.

"I must ask you though if I could go back to the living world sometime today."

"Why?" Asked the old man, still suspicious.

"… Personal matters."

The captain-commander thought for a moment, then answered. "Very well, you may go, but… I will be sending two shinigami with you."

Kagome's face became very angry, but she forced her voice to come out even. "Why might you do that?"

"There has been a massive rise in the amounts of hollow, I don't want to lose a powerful ally like yourself to something stupid." The man's voice was even but his glare was deadly.

"I can take care of myself just fine." Kagome glared back at him, but kept her voice even as well.

"All the same."

They glared at each other for what seemed like hours, when finally Kagome turned around to leave but was stopped by another question.

"How long do you expect to be gone?" Asked the captain-commander.

Kagome thought about that. "… I don't know. One day if I'm unlucky, but probably much longer."

"Very well. Kyoraku."

"Yes, Yama-jii?" Spoke the captain with a straw hat and a pink haori.

"Take one of your subordinates and escort Miss Higurashi here to where ever she is planning to go in the living world. After one week has passed, contact Soul Society. If nothing too drastic has happened and she still wishes to stay in the living world, then we will send someone to relive you."

"Oh, Yama-jii. Is it really a good idea to send a captain?" The pink-wearing captain was still smiling slightly, obviously drunk, but his voice was steady.

"Your squad has been the least effected by the hollow movements. Also, I want to make sure our new ally is well protected."

"_He wants to make sure I'm not a spy or something."_ With that thought, Kagome rolled her eyes, turned around, and left the room without another word.

"If you say so. Let's go, Nanao-chan." The 8th squad captain then tipped his hat down and began to walk to the door.

"But, captain." The woman who was standing behind him spoke up. She looked annoyed and worried at the same time.

"Huh?"

"You can't leave your squad without their captain and lieutenant."

"Let the third seat take over. I can't go stand to go that long without seeing Nanao-chan's pretty face." He gave her a smile and stepped out of the room and turned a corner. With a sigh, his lieutenant followed.

They found Kagome waiting just around the corner of the room.

"Lead the way." Was all she said, still angry with the captain-commander.

Catching the anger in her voice, the captain took off towards the gateway. He wasn't very surprised that she could keep up with him if she survived the battle, but he hadn't been there so he had no idea how strong she really is. The fact that she closed the rip was impressive though.

When they got to the gateway, Kagome told them to take them to Tokyo. The guards complied and said it would take a few minutes to open the gates.

They waited in silence until the Kagome got over her anger and turned to them with a smile. "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly. I'm Kagome Higurashi." She finished and bowed slightly.

The captain smiled. _"She isn't mad at Yama-jii anymore, took a lot shorter that I thought it would. To bad too, she's cute when she's angry."_ He thought, and then said out loud. "Shunsui Kyoraku."

"Nanao Ise." Said his lieutenant, she bowed in return, but didn't smile.

The gates then opened and the three stepped through.

By the time they got to the living world, the sun was just visible over the horizon.

Kagome looked at the sun and frowned. She then looked around for a minute.

"_Great, now I'm lost and times almost up."_ She thought to herself. _"Well, the sun rises in the east so…"_

"This way." She said out loud, and then took off down the streets, the others following her. They had all remained quite after they introduced themselves.

They ran for a long time until Kagome stopped suddenly. They were on a small street, no cars were visible. On one side were trees, and on the other was a very long staircase with arcs at the top and bottom.

"A shrine?" Asked Nanao. "What are we doing here?"

Kagome paused. "It's a special occasion."

"What do you mean?" Shunsui was now confused as well.

Kagome paused again. "You'll see."

She slowly walked to the base of the stairs and paused. Taking a deep breath she began to walk up the staircase at a very slow pace.

After a very long time they reached the top of the stairs. Directly in front of them was a small, two-story house. There were various small shrines around the house, and to the right was a large tree.

Nanao was about to ask Kagome why they were here, but when she saw the girls face, she couldn't speak.

Kagome was smiling, but it looked fragile, and her eyes were sad, on the verge of tears.

Shunsui saw this too and couldn't do anything. He never could against a crying woman.

Minutes passed, but no tears fell.

Kagome finally stepped forward, towards the house, but not to the door. She walked around the side and stopped just below a second story window, her escort just behind her.

With another sigh, Kagome jumped onto the windowsill. She lightly pushed the glass and it opened inward. She stepped into the room.

The two shinigami, still outside, looked at each other for answers, neither had any. They leaped up through the window and into the room.

It was a girl's room that much was obvious. There was a bed against the wall beside the only widow in the room. There was a desk on the other side of the window, it had various school supplies. At the foot of the bed was the door to the hallway and a closet. No one was sleeping in the bed, nor did it seem anyone had slept there recently.

Kagome was kneeling on the floor, her hand going back and forth in small stokes on a mark on the carpet. The mark was a slight dent with black smudges stained into it. It looked like something dirty had hit the floor with a large amount of force.

Neither of the shinigami spoke. They couldn't see her face, but they knew that Kagome had the same, saddened look.

Kagome finally stood up and looked at the clock on the desk. It read 6:49 AM.

Kagome slowly walked over to the desk, seeming to have forgotten about the others in the room.

She placed her hand on the desk for a moment. It then slid down and grasped the handle of one of the drawers.

She pulled it open and took out its contents, a paper bag.

Kagome paused again. Then turned and went into the hallway, the two behind her followed.

Kagome went into the room across from the one they were in. Inside it was as simple as the previous one, but here, there was someone else, a boy. He looked to be about twelve. He was asleep in the bed, snoring lightly. The boy had short black hair and a calm expression.

Kagome visibly brightened at the sight of him, but her eyes were still sad.

Kagome walked and stood next to his bed. She then reached into the bag she had and pulled out a small box wrapped in bright blue paper. The box was flat and had a bow and a small card attached to it. The card read 'Souta'.

Kagome placed it on the nightstand next to the bed and turned to the sleeping boy. She leaned down and kissed him lightly on his forehead. The boy turned in his sleep slightly and Kagome whispered something to him that the shinigami could not hear.

They remained like that until Kagome stood up straight and walked to the door, her face emotionless.

On the way out of the room, she dropped the bag in a small trash bin. Instead of going into the previous room, she went down the hallway and down a set of stairs.

The two shinigami followed her into a living room where Kagome was waiting. When they came into her view, Kagome walked to the front door. She grabbed a key from a hook on the wall and unlocked the door. She replaced the key on the hook and walked out side.

The others followed, Nanao closed the door. They followed Kagome around to the back of the house and to a small shrine. The wood it was made of was splintered and darkened with age.

Kagome slid the doors open and stepped inside. The inside of the shrine was barely visible in the light of the rising sun.

There was a walkway around the edge of the shrine and dirt in the middle, along with a very old wooden well.

The three of them stood around the well in silence until Shunsui spoke. "So, what was all of that back there?" At a glare from his lieutenant he added. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Kagome didn't seem to hear it. She was looking down the well. She finally looked up, her face still emotionless. "That was my brother… Today is his birthday."

Nanao's eyes widened. "But, you said-" She was cut off by Shunsui when he motioned for her to stop, his face serious. "Captain…"

Kagome rubbed the edge of the well. "All that I told you was true, including this." She paused and looked down the well again. "I don't know if you will be able to pass through the well… I don't even know if I will be able to… If you can't then try to convince the old guy that I didn't run away. But if you can, then you have to listen to everything I tell you to do… Please."

Shunsui and Nanao looked at each other for a moment then nodded.

"We'll listen." Was all the captain said.

Kagome smiled slightly. _"Maybe they do trust me."_

Then out loud she said. "While you are through the well you probably can't communicate with Soul Society. And the people there can see you."

The two were surprised, but didn't speak.

"For three days I need you to do nothing. No one must know we are there. I will answer almost anything you ask." Kagome paused and waited for their reply.

"Why are you doing all this?" Asked Nanao.

Kagome looked at her. "… I made a promise that I would help someone… That someone is through here." She looked back at the well.

A single tear fell from her cheek.

There was a long silence, and then Shunsui smiled and put his hand on Kagome's shoulder. The girls looked at him in confusion.

"I don't know what this promise is about or to whom you made it to. But stop crying, I don't like to see a pretty face sad."

The girls were surprised at this. Nanao, because her captain finally said something that was actually helpful. Kagome, because she could tell, just from that and his lieutenant's reaction, that he was always chasing women and that reminded her of someone.

"_Miroku…"_ And that in turn reminded her of everyone else she had seen die long ago. Of everyone she could see again very soon. _"Sango, Shippo, Kaede, Kohaku, even Koga… and Inuyasha."_

She smiled at the thought and looked down the well.

"Let's go."

With that, Kagome jumped down the well. She was about to hit the bottom when a light surrounded her. A light she never thought she would be able to see again.

After a minute the light died. Kagome looked up to see the orange sky above the well. She jumped out and landed in a grassy meadow. She looked to the sky as the sun rose and the stars faded.

"_I'm back."_


	9. Day 1

**AN:** Ok more people are asking saying they want a love interest. So, I might give in. MIGHT give in. I still feel like I can't write a good romance aspect to the story, but I will try. If I decide that it sucks and don't post it then that's that, no complaints.  
Also, Shunsui Kyoraku is going to be i this chapter and the few next ones. That does not mean I already gave up and am pairing him with Kagome. He is simply one of my favorite captains and I wanted him to have a somewhat big part.

* * *

**Day 1**

"Now that's a sunset."

The pink wearing captain stared at the rising sun, holding his hat so it wouldn't be blown off by the light breeze that filled the meadow.

"Captain! That's the first thing that you say?" Nanao just got out of the well and was standing behind Shunsui.

"Well what else would I say Nanao-chan?"

"How about 'where are we?'"

"Huh. How should know? Kagome-chan, where are we?"

Nanao sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Well…" Kagome turned to the two behind her. "We happen to be-" Kagome stopped and looked at something behind the two. "You might want to turn around."

With a confused look Shunsui and Nanao turned around to see a figure on the edge of the meadow. Nanao gasped while her captain just looked confused. "That doesn't look like a hollow."

And it indeed didn't. It was roughly twelve feet tall and bird like. It had dirty yellow feathers along its wings. The rest of it was brown and featherless. It stared in them, for a moment with the same confused look, but then it narrowed its eyes.

"What is this?" It spoke without moving its beak. "How lucky of me. A free meal."

"It talked!" Nanao nearly screamed, but her personality wouldn't let her. "What is it?"

"It is unfriendly and deadly." Kagome drew her sword and continued. "This one is fairly weak, but don't take it lightly."

"Weak?" The monster screamed back. "I'll show you who's weak."

With that said, the monster charged at the group. All three of them dodged the reckless attack that made a small crater.

The three surrounded it. Only Kagome had her sword drawn. The monster looked at each of them, deciding which to attack first.

"You know what that thing is?" Shunsui asked in a calm voice, a new sight to Kagome.

"If you want me to answer that and your other questions, then survive this."

"If you say so." Shunsui drew one of his swords from below his two haori and jumped at the monster.

The monster saw him coming and sung its wings at the oncoming swordsman. Shunsui dodged it with ease and with a slash of his sword cut off one wings. He then stepped forward and cut off the other. The monster barely had a moment to scream in pain when Shunsui stabbed it through the heart.

The creature starred at the sword for a moment, then it fell backwards. Dead.

The victor sheathed his sword and looked at Kagome, who also sheathed her sword. "How did I do?" He asked.

"Good, good. Now then." Kagome sat on the ground. "What do you want to know?"

Shunsui walk toward her until he was a few feet away with Nanao behind him. The two sat on the ground and Nanao spoke first. "Where are we?"

"Tokyo." Kagome answered immediately.

Shunsui's eyebrow rose. "This doesn't look like the Tokyo we were in a few minutes ago." He said.

"It shouldn't. This is Tokyo, five hundred years in the past."

The two other present were obviously surprised. "Then was that a demon?" Nanao stuttered slightly and pointed at the newly made corpse.

"You connected that quickly." Kagome complemented. "Yes, that is a demon."

"How are we here?" Shunsui was still surprised but his voice was even.

With a sigh, Kagome prepared for a long speech. "The well behind you is a portal between the time you were in and the feudal era. I was born in Tokyo in the year 1992. When I fifteen I accidentally fell through the well and ended up here." She gestured with her hands around the meadow. "Then when, a little over a year later I fell off a cliff and died. The river at the bottom carried my body many miles away. When I came too as a spirit, I was next to my body and I had no idea where I was. I was unable to find my way back so I had no idea if I was able to use the well still until just now."

The two thought about this. Then something clicked in Shunsui's head. "Wait, you said you were born in 1992, right?"

"Yes."

"And that you died when you were sixteen… Right?"

"Yes."

"Then… Have you died yet?" The question didn't make much sense, but they understood it. Nanao then caught on.

Kagome paused. "No, but I will shortly."

There was an intense silence.

"So…" Nanao was uncomfortable saying this. "… That was your brother back there, and… Today is his birthday… So…" She couldn't continue.

Kagome saw this and answered for her. "I was too far away and couldn't make it back in time… I never got back."

They were silent. The only sound was the calm wind.

"When." Was all Shunsui said. They understood.

"When the sun rises three days from now."

There was another silence, and Shunsui broke it. His face was still serious, something Nanao rarely saw for this length of time, but she understood why. "If you are here to stop yourself from dieing. Then that is a very bad idea, everything happens for a reason."

Kagome chuckled darkly and looked up, her eyes void of any emotion. "There is no reason for me to do that." She took looked up to the still orange sky. "The night before I died, I had one regret. By the time I died, that regret was gone, and replaced by another."

Shunsui and Nanao waited for her to continue, but when she did, she didn't start how they thought she would.

"Just remember one thing. You two are here because that old leader of yours thinks that I will betray you, I have never once betrayed anyone… There has never been anyone for me to betray. I had friends and I protected them."

Kagome stood up and turned away from the two listening to her.

"The regret I had the night before I died, two days from now, was I never told someone something… That someone wasn't perfect, he wasn't completely good, and he certainly wasn't an average human… But that never changed what I wanted to tell him."

Kagome looked to the ground and bald her hands into fists, making the skin on her knuckles turn white. A single tear fell from her cheek.

"I loved him, and I never said it."

Another tear

"That was my regret… But the night before I died, I saw the truth I didn't want to know…"

Another tear, and another

"That he loved someone else."

Tears were now streaming down her face, she was sobbing loudly.

Although Nanao was usually serious, she knew she needed to comfort Kagome. She just didn't know how. She and her captain were frozen in place.

"I overheard it you see." Kagome's voice was now frantic, like she was trying to say it without hearing her own words. "He left, and I followed him… I heard him say what I always wanted to hear, but he didn't say them to me."

Kagome fell to her knees and cried like she never had before.

"That moment, when I heard it, I no longer cared about anything. I was reduced to nothing." Her voice was somehow possible to understand through the tears and sobs. "That night… I cried, but not for why I should have. I didn't cry because my heart had shattered, I didn't cry because my worst nightmare had come true, and I didn't cry because when I was falling from the cliff, he was there, and he couldn't save me… I cried because that was when it hit me, that I'd never be able to see him again, even after what he did to me I couldn't stand the thought… The last thing I thought was what I've always wanted to tell him... What I never will tell him."

The tears had stopped and Nanao walked over and sat down next to Kagome. She put her arm around the miserable girl and gave her a light hug.

After a moments thought, Kagome looked up at Nanao. The face that Nanao saw was that of a tortured soul.

Kagome's eyes were puffy and bloodshot. Her lips trembled and tear marks were clearly visible down both cheeks.

"_This is not someone we have to fear."_ Though Shunsui, seeing Kagome's face as well. _"This is a girl who was been through a hell that I never want to see."_ He had, at one moment, found Kagome suspicious like everyone else. Now he felt stupid for thinking such things.

When Kagome looked down and began to cry into her hands, Nanao began whispering to her. "It's ok."

When the crying stopped Kagome stood up and looked away form Nanao and said. "Thank you." With a deep breath she wiped the marks off her cheeks and spoke again. "The reason I am here is not revenge or anything else like that. The reason I'm here is to redeem myself. I have long since gotten over the love I once felt for _him_, but the regret I had after I died was that I was unable to finish my promise."

Kagome broke away from Nanao and walked over to the forgotten demon corpse. She stood beside it for a moment then drew her sword and slashed through what seemed to be the monsters stomach, leaving a large cut.

She sheathed her sword and kneeled down. She put her hand into the newly made cut. Moments later Kagome withdrew her hand. She was holding a small shard covered in blood.

"You may think that this promise I made is something unfathomable. The truth is I made the promise a few days after the first time I came here. I made it to him before I truly loved him…"

Kagome stood back up and held out the shard for the viewers. It was pink and didn't have a single crack.

"This is a shard of the Shikon Jewel, the world's most powerful object. Days after I came here I broke it… That was my promise, to find the shards… with him."

"How many more are there?" Asked Shunsui.

"Other than this one and the ones the living me has, there are nine."

Kagome then wiped the blood off it and put the shard into her robe, having no pockets available.

"Then what's the plan?" Shunsui continued to talk, glad there was no trace of a need to cry left.

"Find all the shards we can and give them to the others who were with me. It doesn't matter to me if they know I exist when we give them the shards. I'll just leave once they have them. But until then, if you two don't go back by then, they must not know I exist."

"How long will we be here Kagome?" Nanao was the one to speak this time.

"You will probably have to go back in a week, but I'm staying here till I've finished this."

"Do you know where to go?"

"Yes, I can sense where the shards are, and I know that the largest one is where the living me is."

"Could you sense where they are when you were alive?" Shunsui asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Well you have that one so we can't get that close."

"Oh. I didn't think of that… Here." Kagome handed Shunsui the shard.

"What?" He was very confused.

"They can't know that I'm here. If they do somehow find it, I don't want it to lead them to me. Just give it back before you return to Soul Society."

"If you say so." Said Shunsui as he put the shard into his robe. "Lead the way."

Kagome smiled and took off into the trees, followed by Shunsui and Nanao.

They ran through for a minute before they came to a small village. It had many huts and people about. Kagome stopped on top of a hill that bordered the village. She seemed to be looking for something, and a small smile formed on her face when she saw the thing in question. It was a person, an elderly woman. She had long grey hair and a wrinkled face. She had an eye patch and was using a bow as a cane.

None of the villagers, including the old woman, had seen the three on the hill before they took off to the south.

"Who was that?" Asked Nanao when they were moving again.

"Just an old friend of mine." Replied Kagome. "Her name is Kaede."

"She seemed nice."

"She was, wait, no. She _is_. This will get some getting used to."

They continued to race in a south direction at a more than human pace. Unlike when they were running through Tokyo, they talked this time. The conversations were friendly. Something Kagome hadn't had in a while.

When the sun began to set Kagome stopped. They were in a forest, along a well-beaten path.

"What's the matter Kagome-chan?" Somewhere along the trip Nanao had begun calling Kagome that, and Kagome now called her Nanao-chan. This surprise Shunsui because Nanao had never let anyone call her that beside himself, only because he wouldn't stop, and his past lieutenant Lisa.

A sad smile was visible on Kagome's face. "I need you to not make a sound, ok?"

The two nodded and Kagome walked off the path and into the trees. Shunsui and Nanao looked at each other confused and then followed her into the trees. They made a wide arc and came back onto the path farther down from where they entered into the trees. There was a small circle cut out of the trees. A crescent moon shone in the night sky.

In the small circle was a camp sight with four people around a campfire. One of the two women was facing away so Shunsui couldn't see her face. The other woman had her brown hair in a ponytail and was wearing a pink and green kimono. She had a large boomerang behind her and a sleeping golden fur cat in her lap.

The male at the campfire was sitting next to the woman. He had on a purple robe. His right arm had a purple cloth and beads wrapped around it. His right hand was holding a staff while his left inched towards the woman.

The other man was leaning against a tree on the opposite side of the campfire from the unseen shinigami. He had long silver hair and a red haori. He had a sword strapped to his waist. The strangest thing was the dog like ears on his head. In his hand ge was holding a small child by the… tail. He was holding the child at eye level and was arguing about food it seemed.

The child seemed to be five or six. He had bright red hair, fox like feet, and a foxtail.

Out of the corner of Nanao's eye she could see the man dressed in purple grab the woman next to him. The way he did it almost made Nanao jump at him herself, but the woman he grabbed screamed and slapped him unconscious. No one else took notice of it. The woman even seemed to forget about it and began to talk with the other woman present.

The conversation was cut short when the silver haired man said something to the child he was holding. The child cried and yelled "Kagome!"

Two of the three shinigami stiffened, believing they were discovered.

Instead the girl who's face they could not see yelled. "Oswari!"

The man then slammed into the ground, let go of the child's tail, twitched, and then lay still in the crater that was just made.

The child ran over to the girl who yelled at his previous captor, and jumped into her lap.

The man dressed in purple regained consciousness and sat down next to the woman who had slapped him. He looked no different from before except now he had a red hand shaped mark on his cheek.

The conversations between the people started up again and Kagome turned around and walked back into the woods, followed by Shunsui and Nanao.

When they were a good distance away, Nanao spoke. "Was that…"

"Yes." Kagome stopped and turned to her newly made friends with a smile. "It was me. The one dressed in purple is Miroku. He's a pervert of a monk but recently he only does it to Sango. Sango is the girl who slapped him. She was my best friend. The cat you saw in her lap was Kirara. Those two have been partners for a long time. The little kid was Shippo. He was always getting into trouble. The one with silver hair was-" She stopped suddenly and her smile vanished. "… Inuyasha."

"He's the one, isn't he?" Nanao said it as a statement, knowing the answer.

Kagome nodded and took a deep breath. "I hate to say it but we need to stay around them for a while."

"Why?"

"The Shikon Jewel fragments weren't on my corpse when I came to, if they fell off the cliff then I need to find them before something else."

Shunsui spoke. "If you say so-" He was cut off by his own yawn. "Sorry."

Kagome gave him a small smile. "Follow the path and you'll quickly come to a village." She said pointing in the direction of the path. "You can probably find a bed there." Seeing he was about to object, she continued. "We can't be seen now that the living me is close by. Your reiatsu is probably masking the shard so that's why she, um, I… Whatever. Couldn't sense it. I'm used to sleeping outside don't worry… Besides, I need some time to myself to think some things over."

Nanao and Shunsui looked at each other for a moment, then back to Kagome.

"Ok then, bye." Said Nanao, a little worried. Not for Kagome running away, but for her to be alone when she was obviously tormented at seeing her old friends.

"When should we meet up with you?" Asked Shunsui, feeling the same.

"The living me and the rest will stop I that village tomorrow and leave at noon. After they leave meet me at the south entrance of the village."

"How do you know they will stay till noon?" Asked Nanao.

"I lived through this day once already, remember?" Kagome answered with a small smile but her eyes were sad.

"Oh, right."

"Bye then Kagome-chan." Said Shunsui.

"Sayonara, Nanao-chan, Shunsui-san." Kagome replied with a small bow.

"Bye." Said Nanao, returning the bow.

With that the two left in the direction Kagome pointed, leaving her alone.

Kagome lied down on the soft grass. She put her arms on her stomach, pressing the uncomfortable cloth of the shinigami robe on her skin.

She lay like that, staring at the starry sky.

"With all of the cities being built, it's been a long time since I've seen so many stars." She said to herself.

She then took her sword out of its sheath and held it above her, the moonlight reflecting off the blade and hilt.

"Did you miss the stars too, Aokakesu?" She said looking at the sword.

A ghostly image appeared next to Kagome, but she continued to look at the sword. "Yes, it has been a while since I could see so many at once." Said the image.

It was a woman, about Kagome's apparent age. Her white hair was short and a tint of blue could be seen in the moonlight and she had bright blue eyes. She was wearing a dark blue, ankle length kimono with patterns of red vines along the right side of the leg area. The left side had a long rip from the bottom to a couple inches above the knee. She was barefoot and her skin was a golden brown from a well-done tan. She had a necklace with three small metal flowers on it, each a different color. One was white, another gold, and the last one black.

The woman was lying next to Kagome, both staring at the night sky.

"What do you think will happen?" Asked the image. It materialized and now looked like an actual person rather than a ghost.

"What do you mean?" Kagome put her sword down on the ground next to her but kept a hold of the grip.

"When the living you dies. What do you think will happen?"

"I don't know, but maybe she will go through everything I did while I stay around the rest of the group."

"That would seem to be what would happen, but there's a problem with that."

"What's that?"

"Don't you think our new friends will get suspicious when you don't leave Inuyasha and the others alone."

"Friend is a bit of s stretch." Kagome tried to laugh, she failed badly.

"Are you going to answer?"

"…" Kagome was silent.

"They will be able to tell you are following them. You will have to tell them eventually. You know that right?"

"… Yes, I do."

"I don't know why you don't tell them. It's not like it's anything bad."

"I guess… I just don't want to admit that I'm still effected by all of this."

"But you always were going to."

"…"

"Ever since I can remember, somewhere in your subconscious, you wanted to come back. I could see it."

"I've got to end it." Kagome said, her face emotionless but her voice confident. "They can finally be happy, but not until he and the jewel are gone."

"I guess your right… So you really won't change tomorrow?"

"No."


	10. Day 2

**AN:** Ok sorry about the delay. I would tell you the reason, but you would probably I just made it up as an excuse so I won't bother.  
**anglefire123: **I, myself, am not a fan of Harry Potter at all so I only have a vague idea what you're are talking about. So, no. Even though I have not thought that much about how this will turn out, I don't think I will do that. No promises though

* * *

**Day 2**

"Finally a village."

At saying this, Kagome collapsed on her knees. Inuyasha looked at her confused.

"What's the problem, it's only been a week since we were at the last village." He said. "Besides we won't be staying here that long. We got to keep moving."

Wrong thing to say

Kagome stood up faster than what should be possible, turned around and glared at the hanyou. Fire could be seen in her eyes. Inuyasha, of course, had no idea why, but he was afraid nonetheless.

"NO!" Kagome's yelling meant two things. One, anyone she was not yelling at to move away, and two, for anyone she was yelling at to be quite and hope for the best. "We will be staying for at least an hour! You and your obsession for the Shikon Jewel are the reason I missed my brother's birthday! I have been walking for a week STRAIGHT! We have had no stops and no luck finding any sign of the fragments or Naraku."

"_Kami, she's going to say it isn't she."_ Inuyasha thought, cowering in the shadow of the angry woman. _"Please don't say it. Please don't say it. Please don't say-"_

"Oswari!"

Inuyasha crashed into the ground, making his own little crater.

With a sigh, Miroku spoke up. "Kagome-sama. Do you feel the presence of a shard?"

Kagome, who had now forgotten about her anger, looked out to the direction of the village. After a moment silence, she spoke. "I don't know."

"Huh?" Everyone, besides the face-planted Inuyasha, said at the same time.

"There is a presence that feels like a shard, but… It just doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Asked Sango.

"I can feel it but it's like it is being masked by something very powerful. I can't tell where it is. It could be right in front of us or it could be miles away." Kagome continued to stare out at nothing, the breeze flowing through her hair.

Miroku spoke up again. "Has this ever happened to you before?"

"I felt the same presence last night."

"What?" Inuyasha was standing again, and almost yelling. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Kagome whipped around and glared at Inuyasha… again.

"The reason is that I didn't say anything is that when I did you made Shippo cry and when I was able to concentrate again the presence was already gone!" She was yelling again.

Seeing the fire in the angry girl's eyes again, Inuyasha, for once, knew it was smarter to back down.

Unknown to them, a figure was hiding just in the shadows of the trees. She was a mirror image of the angry girl, minus the clothes and current emotion, and she could hear everything that was being said.

"_So that's what that feeling was…"_ Thought the hidden figure. _"… I guess I had forgotten about that over the years… and it was me… This is getting confusing."_ With that the figure turned around and walked farther into the shadows of the forest without a sound.

"Hey, are you two coming?"

Kagome looked behind her and away from the cowering hanyou. Inuyasha followed her gaze to see the others of the group far ahead of them. They were standing there and obviously waiting.

"What are you doing up there?" Called Inuyasha.

"Waiting." Sango called back. "Now are you coming?"

The rest of the group turned around and walked towards the village. Inuyasha and Kagome joined them after realizing that they had went ahead during their yelling.

They had shortly after reached the village without any other yelling.

The village itself was quite large and very well populated. Rice fields and then forest surrounded it. There was a ten-foot high outer wall separating the village from the rice fields. Inside the wall were buildings of all shapes and sizes and people walking around the busy streets.

The group walked through the gateway in the wall. They were not opposed but they got a couple of glances, some evil, some confused. They seemed to be because of the obvious demons and the man dressed as a monk. But, because they didn't start attacking anyone, they forgot about it.

The mismatch group wandered around then came to an agreement to explore the village. Then at noon to meet at the south entrance of the village to leave.

Not wanting to enrage Kagome again, Inuyasha agreed and walked away. The rest of them split up.

They looked around and explored the village. It seemed strangely unharmed even with the rise in demon violence.

Noon quickly came and everyone was present at the gate… except Miroku.

"I bet he's drunk at some bar surrounded by women." Said Inuyasha.

Unfortunately for him, this was true, and Sango was the first to find him.

It was a medium sized bar with a counter and a bartender behind it. Around the walls there were five tables, two of them were occupied. One had a laughing, drunken Miroku and four women about his age he was trying to seduce. A man also occupied the table next to him, but he was only drinking.

As soon as Sango saw this, she was more then just angry.

Although she never admitted it she loved the pervert of a monk, and she couldn't stand it when other women looked at him like that. She was really mad at them, but if she showed it her true feelings would come out. So she just yelled at Miroku instead.

As soon as Sango came into the room, Miroku stopped laughing and paled. "S-Sango." He was stuttering. This was not the best situation. "T-this isn't w-what it l-looks like."

At hearing this, the four women jumped up and ran away, believing that she was his wife. As much as Sango wanted to go after the fleeing women, she focused on Miroku. The monk was sweating as Sango slowly approached, it seemed that the wall behind her was on fire.

"Then what were you doing?" Sango's voice was calm but the anger could be heard.

Looking around franticly for an excuse, he spotted the man at the table next to his. He did the first thing he could think of and put his arm around the man's shoulder and said. "I was just catching a drink with an old friend of mine. Isn't that right?" He said the last part at his "old friend" hoping he would play along.

The man looked out from under his hat between the two and thought. _"Wow, he is in a bind. Guess I better help while I still can."_

He then put his arm around Miroku's shoulder and smiled. "Yes I ran into him in town and asked him to join me for a drink. We just wanted to talk about the old days." He said calmly.

Miroku visibly calmed at that, but then tensed back up when he saw Sango was still angry. Not even bothering to even think about his excuse, Sango grabbed Miroku's ear and pulled him out of the bar.

Miroku flailed his arms trying to reason with the enraged demon slayer. As a result, his "old friend" backed away and the table was knocked over. Sango dragged the terrified monk out of the bar. His screams of protest could be heard as he was dragged down the streets.

With a sigh, the man who pretended to be Miroku's friend stood up and put the knocked over table back up. He then dusted off his pink haori and finished his sake.

"Captain."

Knowing the voice, the man turned to the doorway. "Good morning Nanao-chan." He said, placing his cup back on the table.

The woman at the doorway turned to the response, and with a groan walked over to him.

"Captain, why are you still here?" She asked.

"Waiting for that one named Miroku to leave so we can meet up with Kagome." He started walking to the door.

"He was here?" Nanao asked in disbelief. Not because Miroku was here, but because her captain had a valid excuse for once.

"Yes, didn't you here him screaming as he was dragged out of here?"

"That was him?" She had seen the man, but wasn't paying enough attention to see it was one of the ones they were following.

"Yes it was." Shunsui said, the two leaving the bar. "Now we better go find Kagome-chan."

By the time the two shinigami had reached the gate, the group they were following were only silhouettes in the distance. Shunsui was leaning against the wall with a calm expression. His lieutenant on the other hand…

"Where is she?" Nanao wasn't screaming, she never did, but she was pacing back in forth.

Her captain looked from under his hat to look at the girl. The way his head was moving, he seemed to be watching a tennis match. "Relax Nanao-chan." He said in his slightly annoying, alcohol-induced voice. "I've never seen you worked like this because of anything before." That was a lie. He had, at one point, seen Nanao very worried. But thinking about it brought back bad memories for both of them.

"She's late." Nanao continued to pace, not looking up from her moving feet.

"Do you think that she has run away? She certainly had time to."

At this Nanao stopped and looked at her captain. She was obviously appalled. "How can you say that? She told us her deepest secrets that she had obviously never told anyone before, and now you think she just would just leave?" It was more of a statement.

"No, but do you?" Shunsui stared back, his eyes giving nothing away and his voice hard.

Nanao was frozen, realizing what her captain meant. _"Do I?"_ She asked herself.

She thought for another minute before answering. "No, I don't. I believe that she truly wants for someone to trust her, and someone to trust in return. I don't know what she is thinking in that tortured mind of hers, but I know she wouldn't just leave." She had not stuttered once.

"Well said." The two turned to the voice. Kagome was sitting on the wall that Shunsui was leaning against.

She jumped down and landed next to the captain, who looked at her with hidden surprise, just like Nanao.

"_I hadn't sensed her at all."_ They both thought.

"Before we follow them I need to ask you both something." Kagome said. When she didn't hear any interruptions, she continued. "After what Nanao-chan said… I need to know if you trust me."

The two other present looked at each other in surprise, then at Kagome.

"Of course."

"We do."

"Then…" Kagome, voice wavered. Though her face was emotionless, her eyes showed her sadness. "… Can I trust you?"

Without a moments thought, Shunsui turned to Kagome and put a hand on either of her shoulders.

"Kagome-chan." His voice was calming, all traces of drunkenness gone. "Yama-jii may not trust you, but he doesn't know you. And you may not have realized it, but at telling us your past, or at least part of it. You have already shown that you trust us, even if only a little. But if you want to hear it then yes, you can trust us."

Kagome looked at the man. She was obviously happy, and for a second her eyes shown with… hope? The emotions in her voice mimicked the ones on her face. "Then can we-" She caught herself.

Her face stayed the same for only a second before she looked down. She turned around, facing away from the viewers and breaking the captain's grasp. "Never mind…" She said after a moment, her voice cold as ice. "… Let's go."

With that, Kagome walked through the gate and out of the village. While her companions were trying to figure out what she was going to ask, they would not ask her.

"_I know what will happen to them if I had asked and they had said yes… It's always the same… They never stay…"_ Kagome thought as she walked in front of the shinigami. _"… And usually it's because of me."_

With one look behind her to make sure they were following, Kagome sprinted forward, followed by Shunsui and Nanao.

They sprinted down the path, through the rice fields for a couple of minutes. Once they reached the edge of the surrounding forest, Kagome swerved off the path and into the dense trees.

No one spoke. The only sound was the wind and the crumbling of twigs and leaves under their feet. They ran into no trouble, and seemed to be heading in a random direction.

After hours of silent travel, Kagome slowed to a walk. Following her speeds, the rest of the group saw a break in the trees just ahead of them.

They stopped at the edge of the trees to find a small clearing. The sun was beginning to set but the sky was still blue.

There was no sound in the clearing and the only thing in it was a tree in the center. It was slightly taller then the surrounding trees of the forest, but seemed to be the same species.

The only thing weird was a red and white mass in one of the branches. It was impossible to tell what it was from this angle.

After a minute, Kagome slowly walked into the clearing, followed by the others. She walked around the tree and stood in front of the mass.

When he got closer, Shunsui could tell it was a sleeping human, a woman to be exact. She wore long red pants and a white haori. She had a bow and quiver on her back, but they didn't seem to make it uncomfortable for her to sleep.

The shocking thing was that she was a mirror image of Kagome. Her face may have been different, but only slightly. She had the same long black hair, and even though her eyes were closed, he could somehow tell they were the same deep brown.

She was obviously a completely different person from the Kagome they knew, but they could have been sisters. It was also obvious that Kagome knew her. Whether or not they were friends could be told from the small frown on Kagome's lips.

Nanao and her captain didn't dare speak. They didn't know what was going on, but they didn't want to awaken the sleeping woman, or anger Kagome.

Kagome suddenly turned around and walked back into the forest and jumped into a tree landing on a branch twenty feet off the ground.

Shunsui and Nanao jumped into their own branches and followed Kagome's gaze back to the clearing.

A moment later the one known as Inuyasha came into the clearing. He had been running but as soon as he saw the woman sleeping on the branch he stopped. He slowly walked to the woman.

While the sight captivated Shunsui and Nanao, Kagome turned to leave. Seeing this, Shunsui spoke softly, not wanting the two in the clearing to hear. "Where are you going?"

Kagome was looking at the ground, her hair making a curtain that blocked her face. "I've already seen this once." Her voice was emotionless other than the underlying tone of sadness. "We should go."

She began to walk away. Nanao was about to stop her when she heard another noise. She turned to it to see the living Kagome at the edge of the clearing hiding behind a tree. Nanao looked back at her captain, he saw it too.

They both looked after the Kagome they knew to see her walking deeper into the forest. They jumped down from their respected branches and followed her.

The two shinigami were thinking the same thing. _"What is going on here?"_


	11. Day 3

**Day 3**

_I remember it... I always will… I don't need to see it again._

"Kikyo?"

_That was the first thing you said. You were surprised to see her for who knows what reason. You knew she was there… Of course she woke up._

"Inuyasha… I should have known you would find me."

_She was always blunt one. I'm glad that even though I'm her reincarnation that her personality didn't go into me._

"What are you doing here?"

_I would have thought she wouldn't say anything… Just my luck, I was wrong._

"… I was looking for you… I need to ask you something."

* * *

"Yep, good old Kikyo. Always skipping right to the point."

"Um… Kagome-chan… Are you alright?"

Kagome looked over her shoulder without slowing her walk. Nanao was looking at her with a combination of confusion and concern. "What do you mean? I'm fine." The emotionless mask she wore was convincing, just not enough to fool the shinigami.

"Who's Kikyo?" Asked Shunsui.

Kagome's eyes widened at this. She stopped walking and turned to glare at the slightly taller captain. "How do you know that name?"

"You mumbled something about someone named Kikyo who always skipping to the point."

At hearing this Kagome sighed and turned back around to continue walking. The others followed.

The sky had long since become dark, but no sounds were made. They had stopped at the edge of the forest. In front of them was a cliff. Rushing water could be heard far below. Shunsui was sitting against a tree, Nanao was sitting against a tree opposite of her captain, and Kagome was lying on the soft grass. She was directly under a hole in the thick canopy and the light of the stars shone on her unblinking eyes.

They had no idea what time it was, so it felt like many hours had passed when Kagome finally spoke.

"The woman sleeping in the tree was Kikyo."

The two didn't move, but Kagome knew they were awake.

"She was the one that Inuyasha loves."

Now, the listener's eyes shot open, though his hat blocked the view of Shunsui's eyes.

"And back there is when he said it."

They looked at Kagome, surprise evident in their features. _"So that's why she wanted to leave."_ Nanao realized.

"They once had a possibility for a happy life together. But due to… someone, their chance together ended in tragedy. When I came here Kikyo was dead and Inuyasha was pinned to a tree and unable to move. Kikyo came back to life and Inuyasha has been chasing her ever since."

There was more silence. No one knew what to say.

Then the sky began to lighten and turn orange.

"What?" Kagome sat up and looked out over the cliff, the sun rising over the horizon. She groaned and got to her feet. "Looks like I lost track of time." The shinigami got to their feet as well, once again confused. "We better get going." She said, stretching.

When she finished she started walking along the cliff, but kept hidden in the trees.

They hadn't walked long when they heard a man's voice yell, "KAGOME!"

Just then they saw a woman with a bleeding stomach stumble and fall over the edge of the cliff. She appeared to be crying.

On instinct, Shunsui rushed forward to save her, but was stopped before the first step by someone grabbing his shoulder. He looked behind him to see Kagome looking at where the woman had fallen, her face void of any and all emotion.

"What are you doing?" Hissed Nanao. "She's going to die!"

"That was me…"

That was all Kagome had to say, the shinigami understood immediately. Kagome took her hand off of Shunsui's shoulder and he stayed still. They all watched to see what would happen.

The area where the girl had been was covered in blood. Not all of it appeared to be hers though. There was a corpse of some kind, but it was face down and impossible to tell what it was.

A group ran to the battlefield. There were six of them, all of which Kagome had introduced to her new companions.

Inuyasha, who had called her name just before, knelt down on the edge of the cliff and called again. "KAGOME!"

Just like the first time, no answer.

Sango stood in shock, then buried her tear stricken face in Miroku's chest, sobbing loudly.

Miroku looked away from the edge and wrapped his arm around Sango. He didn't do anything perverted, now was not the time. His own eyes began to water.

Shippo was sitting on the ground, tears flowing down his face, much more than anyone else. In-between the sobs, he was calling, "Kagome!" sob, "Don't go Kagome!" He then curled into a ball and continued to cry and whisper.

Kirara was crying. She had only done it once before, and that was long ago, back when her first master and friend died. She had forgotten how sad losing someone could be. She walked over and lay down next to Shippo, neither of them holding any tears in.

The last member of the group, Kikyo, was also crying. At feeling the moister on her cheek she swept her finger across and looked at the tear. _"I'm crying?"_ She thought. _"But I can't cry, all I am is a body made from graveyard soil. How can I be sad… But now that I can love… Does that mean I have all my emotions back?"_ She then collapsed on her knees and wept, covering her eyes with her hands. _"I wasn't ready for this pain."_

Inuyasha continued to shout over the edge of the cliff, tears falling.

He then felt something touch his hand. He looked at his hand on the ground. It was a small, almost flawless, pink sphere.

He picked it up and looked at it hopefully, and then his spirits dropped. _"This can't help here… But it's all that is left of her… Dammit… Dammit..."_

"KAGOME!"

None of them knew that just inside the forest, she was there. The one they were crying for. She was very much dead, but she still cried with them. Not for seeing her own death, but for having caused such pain to the ones she once, and still does, call her friends.

Her lip trembled and her eyes watered. Then when the young kitsune whimpered her name once more, she couldn't take it. She turned and ran into the forest. Not caring if her 'guards' were following.

Not caring if they saw her cry.


	12. Mistake

**AN:** Ok, I have been having more free time then usual on my hands so I decided to write another chapter.  
A few people said that the previous one was short, all of them said it was sad. I made this one longer, but don't expect the sadness to go away that often. When it does, it won't be gone for long. This is a tragedy for a reason.  
I also realized that I haven't put that much any action in for a while now, so there is some in this chapter.

I must also warn you all that I, as much as I hate it, am still in school and finals start next week, so it might be a while before I can update.

* * *

**Mistake**

_Surprised, that's all that you felt… At least that's what I hoped._

"What is so important to tell me that you actually had to come and find me?"

_But I knew somewhere in the mind of yours you felt something else._

"I… I just want you to know something."

_I hadn't known Kikyo for long, but I never heard or even imagined her to struggle with words like she did then._

"What do you mean?"

_It was… But those three words caused so much more to be said._

"I have changed."

* * *

"Where is she?"

"In there."

"The well house?"

"No, in the well itself."

"What?" Toshiro was more then a little confused, as was his lieutenant.

"Why is she in a well?" Asked said lieutenant.

"We have a lot to tell you. So please come with us." With this, Shunsui began to walk away, followed by Nanao.

"What, but shouldn't one of us stay with her." Although Matsumoto had forgiven Kagome for when she had taken her hostage, she was still suspicious of the strange girl. "She could run away."

"It's unlike you to be so serious Rangiku-san." Said Nanao, both her and her captain stopped and looked back to the two officers of tenth squad.

"Besides." Spoke in Shunsui. "Even if you are here, you can't contain Kagome-chan in anyway, nor do you have a reason to. I spent a week with her. Trust me when I say you have nothing to worry about. Now come on." With that he turned back around and started walking away again.

Toshiro, Matsumoto, and Nanao followed the usually wayward captain. He led them down the large staircase to the shrine and sat on a bench along the road at the bottom. No cars passed.

When they all sat down, Shunsui was the first to speak. "So, what's you reason for bringing your lieutenant?"

Though the other captain wanted to be the one asking the questions, he answered anyway. "Since you brought yours, the captain-commander believes that every other captain that is sent to 'guard' Kagome should also bring theirs. Now do you mind telling me what is going on?" He was getting impatient.

Shunsui sighed. This was going to take a while. "The well in that shrine takes anyone who goes into it back to the feudal era. Kagome did this often when she was alive after stumbling onto it."

"H-How?" was the only thing Toshiro could ask.

"This was her house when she was alive, she died while on the other side of the well and her spirit couldn't find it's way back. So she has been wandering the earth for all this time with a zanpakuto."

"Then, how does the well work?"

"I have no idea." He said bluntly. "But Nanao-chan here says she has an theory."

They all turned to Nanao. With a deep breath she began her theory. "All that we know about the well is that me, captain, Kagome, and Inu- a demon she met on the other side." They could all hear that she was about to say something else, but no one interrupted her. "We saw this demon twice while over there. As far as I a can tell, he has a lot more reiatsu then any other demon back then, possibly caused to an incident where he was pinned to a tree with a powerful arrow. I believe that only those with high enough reiatsu can pass through."

"And Kagome had enough when she was alive?" Asked Toshiro.

"Probably not, she told us that when she was alive she could only travel back and forth when she had a jewel

"A jewel?" Matsumoto asked.

"I myself held one of the shards of the jewel." Said Shunsui. "That small shard alone had massive amounts of reiatsu. Equal to that of at least lieutenant level."

Toshiro and Rangiku stared at the other shinigami, wide-eyed. "Are you serious?" Asked Toshiro.

"Yah, and that's not it." Said Shunsui, chuckling at their reaction. "I saw the jewel when it was almost complete…"

"And? How much reiatsu did it have?"

"… You've felt Yama-jii when he releases his zanpakuto right?" Toshiro nodded. "… At least twice that."

There was silence as that sunk in.

"The thing is, is that it doesn't radiate reiatsu. It condenses it." Toshiro and Rangiku were only half paying attention, still in shock. "I could only feel the power from the shard when I was holding it, and I could feel that of the almost complete one when we were about thirty feet away. There are some people, I only know of two, Kagome being one, which can sense it from very far away. Everyone else just seems to not fell anything, no matter how close they get."

More silence. A car raced by, then silence again.

"There's is something that you're not telling us." Said Toshiro, looking at his feet.

"Yes, there is." Answered Shunsui without a second of thought.

"What is it?"

"… Kagome's very long life."

Toshiro looked up and just stared at his fellow captain. Confusion visible in his eyes.

"While we were there, she told us some things about her… and none of them are pleasant."

"Are you going to tell them to us?" Toshiro's voice was calm, but he very curious.

Shunsui looked up to the bright blue sky, the sun hanging directly overhead. Toshiro followed his gaze as a large cloud covered the sun, putting the four in shadows.

"Yes, I will."

* * *

Many hours passed and the sun was nearing the horizon. Toshiro jumped out of the wooden well and into a small meadow. Rangiku followed close behind and landed next to her captain.

They stood there for a moment before Rangiku spoke. "What should we do captain?"

He thought for a second before answering. "Kyoraku said to follow her reiatsu signature to find Kagome. So that's what we are going to do. Just remember to try and not be seen, especially by this Inuyasha character. Kagome stayed away from the well because they will probably come here soon, we don't want to make her effort go to waste."

"And what do you think she will do?"

Again, he thought before answering. "Whatever it is, she has every right to do it with what she has been through. She has a goal here, she never told Kyoraku, so he never told us. But whatever it is, she needs help, and I will be that help."

"That's not all she didn't tell captain Kyoraku. You know that right?"

"Yeah, the question is, how much she's hiding."

"And if it's worse that what we already know."

"… Do you trust her?" Asked Toshiro after a pause.

"If what she said was the truth, and I know it is, then yes… Do you?" Rangiku returned.

"I trusted her when we fought together, and I trust her now."

A wind whistled through the meadow, but nothing else was heard. The two shinigami had left in the direction that Kagome's reiatsu was coming from.

They had traveled for just under half a mile and were very close to where they believed Kagome was when the reiatsu suddenly disappeared. Completely gone.

"What the?" Said Toshiro, mostly to himself as the two stopped.

He was about to start running again in search for Kagome when he felt two arms wrap around his neck. He was pulled into a chokehold. He reached for his sword when he heard a surprisingly familiar voice. "Shiro-chan!"

He instinctively broke out of the chokehold with strength alone, turned around a glared at his previous captor. "Don't call me that!" He yelled at the person.

For a moment he was shocked when he realized it wasn't Hinamori, but he didn't show it.

"Awww." The person in front of him spoke then grabbed him in another bear hug. "But it fits you so perfectly."

Toshiro was finding it hard to breathe in the hug. He would of have told his lieutenant to help. But said lieutenant was currently on the ground laughing out of control.

Toshiro was red with anger when he finally pushed away from his captor… again. "Stop doing-" He was cut off when he took another step back and tripped over something. He looked to see it was Rangiku, who seemed to be slowly lessening her laughter. Toshiro stood back up and glared at Kagome. Rangiku got up slower, still chuckling a little bit.

"Will you stop calling me that?" He was still yelling.

"No."

The playful argument continued, getting nowhere.

Elsewhere, only misery existed.

* * *

Inuyasha was walking down a forest path, to lost in his own thoughts to notice if the others were following.

It had been five days since they watched Kagome fall off the cliff, and could do nothing to help. They had never thought that would happen to Kagome of all people.

Two days ago, Inuyasha went back through the well to tell Kagome's family, they deserved to know. Their reactions tore through his heart.

* * *

Her mother fell to her knees and cried. She continued to do it even after I left.

Her grandfather he tried to comfort the other two, but it was obvious he was holding his tears in.

But Souta, his was the worst. He instantly began to cry, but when his grandfather put his hand on the boy's shoulder, Souta jerked away and walked to stand in front of Inuyasha. He tried to be angry but the sadness kept him from looking the part. The pain in his voice was enough though.

"I trusted you!" The boy nearly shouted. "I trusted you to look after my sister!" His family looked at him, crying as well, but did not move. "I believed that you could protect her from anything, and now you tell me she's dead!" He paused as more tears fell. "I don't know what she saw in you!"

With that, Souta turned around and ran up the stairs to his room.

Inuyasha, through his own pain, was confused at the last thing the boy said. He was about to go and ask him what he meant, but after one step, he was stopped.

"Leave…"

He looked to see it was Kagome's grandfather. He was kneeling next to his crying daughter and Inuyasha could not see his face.

"What?"

"LEAVE NOW!" His head spun around to glare at the hanyou, tears falling from his aged eyes.

After a second of thought, Inuyasha turned around and walked out of the house. Even after he had gone through the well, he could still hear Souta's words.

"I trusted you!"

The words echoed in his head. The three simple words. Why is it always three words?

* * *

He continued to think of those words as he walked through the forest when he heard someone say. "Where's Shippo?" It took him a minute to realize it was Sango. Then another to process the question.

He stopped walking and turned around to the rest of the group, the confusion evident n his face. "What?" Was his brilliant remark.

"He's not here." Said Sango. She then yelled. "Shippo. Where are you?"

No reply

The others began to look around as well. None could find him.

"Well we passed through a village not to far back." Said Miroku. "Maybe he got lost in the crowd."

"Wasn't anyone paying attention?" Asked Kikyo. "Did anyone notice him not following us when we left the village?"

No one spoke. All of them had been deep in their own thoughts to notice that.

"_How pathetic."_ Though Inuyasha. _"Now we can't even watch after Shippo."_ Then out loud he said. "We better go find him."

The rest of the group nodded and they began walking back the way they had come. They had not traveled that far, so they quickly came to the edge of the forest that the village was in the center of. At seeing it Inuyasha stopped and stiffened. Kirara growled, her fur bristling.

"Blood." Was all Inuyasha said, they all understood and ran to the village. When they reached the edge of the village, they heard a scream.

It was Shippo.

"HELP!"

All around them were the mutilated bodies of the villagers. Standing in the otherwise abandoned streets was Kagura. There were multiple bodies around her. In her right hand was her folded fan. In her left, she was holding a wailing Shippo by his tail.

"LET ME GO!" Shippo yelled and flailed his arms, but to no help.

"Dammit." Inuyasha said. Kagura heard this and turned to the group. She was scowling and had her eyebrows furrowed.

"More trouble?" She asked, more of a statement. "This just keeps getting more and more annoying."

Inuyasha growled and grabbed his Tessaiga, but suddenly froze, his hand on the grip.

"_What the?"_ He thought. _"Wait, no, not now."_ He looked up to see the darkened sky. The sun had just set behind them.

No moon

He looked down at his hands to see he had no claws. At a sudden wind his hair blew in front of his face. His black hair.

"Oh no!" Said Miroku, seeing the transformation. He also looked at the sky. "The night of the new moon."

Kagura stared at the black haired Inuyasha in confusion. _"What happened to him?"_ She followed Miroku's gaze but was still confused, the wailing kitsune wasn't helping her thought process. _"Oh, I get it. This is the mutt's human night. What luck."_

"As much as I would love to stay." Said Kagura with a sneer. "I must get back to Naraku, he might want to do something with this brat." She looked at Shippo.

"**Hiraikotsu."** Kagura jumped into the air just in time to dodge the boomerang. She pulled one of the feathers out of her hair. With a flick, it grew in size. Kagura landed on the floating feather, ready to escape.

"If you want to play some then here." She said and unfolded her fan. **"Shikabane-mai."**

She flicked her fan. The corpses on the ground began to rise. Their eyes were rolled back into their heads and their injuries were foaming. The zombies slowly walked to the group. Which in turn, made them attack. Kikyo shot many of them down, Sango clobbered them with her boomerang, Miroku was forced to use his staff at the sudden appearance of dozens of Saimyosho around the battlefield, and Inuyasha simply punched them.

Kagura watched the fighting below her. She then glanced at the demon in her hand. _"I'll just let him scream."_

That was the worst mistake she could possibly do

Kagura didn't even sense anything or anyone. Then she felt it, a searing pain along her back. She screamed in pain and made the feather she was on move twenty feet away and turn around.

In front of her was a person. Kagura couldn't make out any distinct features, but she was certain it was female.

The person was wearing a black robe and had long black hair that flowed in the wind. With no available light, her face was unable to be seen. In her right hand was a katana, dripping with blood. Under her left arm was a very surprised Shippo. The strangest thing was that this person was just floating on air, standing on nothing.

Kagura winced at the pain and glared at the new comer. "Who are you?" She shouted.

No answer

"What is your relation with the kitsune?"

No answer

Kagura was now very annoyed. _"Who is she?"_

Shippo was currently thinking the same thing. He had stopped screaming and was currently trying to see the face of his savior, but could not.

Kagura gritted her teeth together. She then flipped open her fan. **"Fujin no mai!"** She waved her fan and a blade of wind shot to the target.

The sword wielder charged forward and met the blade halfway. Her sword collided with it, stopping her movements.

Wind rushed away from the collision and the sound of metal screeching against metal could be heard.

After a moment, a crack formed on the blade of wind where it met the sword. The crack suddenly grew, making more. The entire blade was covered in cracks. So much that it couldn't hold it's form any more. The air compressed inside burst out, creating a small explosion.

The sword wielder jumped back just in time to avoid the shockwave, but the collision had still tired her. _"Note to self, dodge blades, don't try and block."_ She thought, panting.

Kagura snickered. "So that little thing tired you out?" She didn't get an answer, not that she minded this time. "Well then, let's see how you handle this."

She whipped her fan again, this time though, a dozen blades of wind shot out.

The swordsman didn't seem surprised she dashed to her left and circled around Kagura. The wind sorceress kept making more blades, but all were dodged as the target kept running in a circle.

After making almost a full circle around Kagura, the sword wielder jumped high into the air, the angle meant to come down directly on Kagura. Seeing this, she sent another blade right at the woman.

Just before the blade made contact, the swordsman did a back flip, evading it completely. She then landed in front of Kagura and brought her foot up to the demon's chin, kicking her thirty feet upward.

Kagura spat out blood, still flying upward. When she looked down she saw her opponent just below her, sword ready.

Just before the killing slash was mad, the sword wielder was suddenly dragged downward and slammed into the ground, making a slight crater.

She slowly got back up. _"What was that?"_ She thought. Looking at her leg she saw a chain wrapped around it. _"Wait didn't that belong to-"_ She had to stop to roll away as someone stabbed a sickle into the dirt where she just was. _"Kohaku!"_

She jumped back and unraveled the chain from her ankle. She landed ten feet away. Kohaku looked at her, his eyes glazed over.

"You all right?" She asked Shippo not looking away from her new enemy.

"_That voice…"_ Shippo looked at her face again, but could still not see it. _"It can't be…"_

"Hello? Are you all right?"

"Yes…" He said quietly. _"It can't be her…"_

"Good. I need you to get on my back and hold onto my neck as tight as you can. Ok?"

"Yeah, sure." Shippo did as he was told. The sword wielder stretched the hand she had been using to hold Shippo before gripping her sword with it.

She looked at Kohaku as he pulled his chained sickle back and spun it over his head.

When he threw it, she jumped over it and stabbed it with her sword. The blade went right through one of the chain links and into the ground, pinning it. She then kicked Kohaku, sending him backwards, releasing his grip on the chain.

The sword wielder took her sword out of the ground and wrapped the chain around her left arm so that Kohaku couldn't get it back.

Kohaku took out his own katana and charged. She blocked all of the attacks and countered with a kick every now and again.

While this was going on, Shippo's mind was strangely calm and thoughtful.

"_I can't see her face, but she has the same hair and voice."_ He thought gripping onto the neck of the woman he was talking about. _"She's protecting me and she isn't attacking Kohaku with her sword. She doesn't want to hurt him… Could it be her? And if so, then how?"_

The fight continued for minutes. Then, the sword wielder unwrapped Kohaku's chain from around her arm and tripped the boy with it. Her hands were a blur as she tied his ankles together with the chain. She then did the same with his wrists. He was unable to move, but his face still showed no emotion.

She looked back up to see a Kagura still floating above the village, a scowl returning to her face as she looked back.

She held her sword out in front of her and spoke in a soft voice. **"Sing to the Setting Sun, Aokakesu."**

The entire sword gave off a pink glow. The flower-like guard grew and turned white and bright blue feathers came out of the flat side of the blade.

She then pointed her sword upwards and it began to hum, the guard turning golden.

"Close your eyes." She said to the kitsune on her back. He did so and she drew a perfect circle with the trail of golden energy coming from the tip of the blade. Kagura, unfortunately for her, was looking directly at the woman. _"What is she doing?"_ She thought. **"Merido-Dai."**

A ball of white energy formed in the middle of the circle. A moment later a bright flash was given off.

The zombies that had been fighting the others suddenly collapsed over and exploded with blood. They did not get up again. The group looked around, then Sango shouted. "Look!" They followed her gaze to Kagura floating on her feather, a sword coming out the center of her back.

In front of the wind sorceress was the wielder of the sword. They could only tell she was wearing a black robe and had long black hair. They could see what looked like Shippo on the strangers back.

Blood dripped from the sword and the large feather disintegrated. Kagura seemed to be dead, but then she snickered, and then laughed.

"You think you killed me?" She said, no more than a whisper, but they could all hear it. "I may have a heart, but it's not here. You can't kill me."

Hearing this, one would think Kagura would instantly attack, but she just hung there, looking at the sky.

"Oh how I wish that you could kill me. But you can't…"

For a minute, the only sound was the wind, but then even that died. Leaving only silence. No one moved.

Then the hilt of the sword turned purple and it began to hum again. **"Merido-Yabun."** The sword wielder said, only loud enough for herself, Kagura, and Shippo to hear.

The blade disappeared in a dark purple aura. It stayed like that for a moment, and then Kagura slowly fell. The blade no longer existing to hold her. She fell slowly, the purple mass passing through the rest of her chest, then her head.

Kagura fell, she could feel the pain, but tiredness over took her to quick for her to scream. She fell asleep just before she hit the ground with a thud.

The purple mass around the blade disappeared and the hilt turned back to white. It's wielder turned around and walked through the air in a downward direction. It looked like she was walking on invisible stairs.

The stranger touched the ground right in front of Sango, the rest of the group behind her. None of them could see the black haired woman's face in the dark night. The stranger then reached for the back of her neck and pulled Shippo from his grip on the back of her robe collar.

She handed the kitsune to Sango and turned around and walked away without a word.

No one knew what to say, but they could hear a strange sound. The group looked to see Shippo crying and looking at the ground.

"Shippo-chan, what's wrong?" Asked Sango, voicing everyone's confusion. Shippo mumbled something. "What?"

He said it again, this time loud enough for everyone to hear. "Don't go…" His head then snapped up and looked after the slowly retreating figure of the unknown swordsman. "Don't go!" He yelled after her, tears falling from his eyes.

The figure continued to walk away, ignoring the child.

"Shippo-chan, what are you talking about?" Sango was again the only one to talk. Shippo didn't hear her.

"Don't leave me again!" Shippo yelled again. "Don't leave me again… KAGOME!" Tears were rolling down his cheeks, but his voice was clear.

The dark robed woman stopped but did not turn around. The entire group stared at her wide-eyed.

"Kagome?" Miroku muttered.

The wind shifted. The feathers on the woman's sword fell off and were blown away one by one. The hilt shrunk and returned to its normal bronze color. She sheathed the sword and let her arms drop to her sides, she looked at the ground.

"Kagome… Is that really you?" Said Inuyasha, taking a step toward her.

The woman looked to her side, the wind blowing her long hair out of the way. There were enough stars in the night sky to make out the half of her face that they could see. She had flawless skin, a beautiful tan. Her mocha eyes staring back at them.

It was her

"How?"

She is here

"… It's good to see you all again." Her voice, Kagome's voice, sounded the same. A beautiful sound that the purest bell couldn't outshine.

She's back

"I didn't get to say goodbye before…"

And just like that

"What? No, don't go."

… With only three words…

"Sayonara, my friends."

…She was gone

Kagome disappeared, taking off at blinding speeds

Leaving only the wind


	13. Crimson

**AN:** Ok, much longer wait time then I thought it would be, for that, I am sorry. For all that care, it was a combination between finals, like I said, and that my cousin came to visit. I could not do ANYTHING while she was here... I wonder if that's what it's like to have siblings...

* * *

**Crimson**

_Change… I guess we've all gone through some of that at some time._

"What do you mean?"

_I wonder what you were thinking at that moment._

"I don't know why, but I think I'm becoming more… alive."

_Was it anywhere near the truth?_

"Alive? Ok you've lost me Kikyo."

_Probably not, but you were hoping, I could see it in your eyes._

"I'm beginning to feel things I haven't felt since before I died."

* * *

"KAGOME!"

She could hear the screams and crying, she had not gone far.

While trying to ignore the sounds, Kagome walked to the still tied Kohaku. He had not moved this whole time. Kagome kneeled next to him and placed her hand on the back of his neck.

There was a soft pink glow that lasted for only a few seconds. When she removed her hand and Kohaku fell limp. She looked at her hand to show the small pink shard in it.

After staring at the shard for what felt like hours, Kohaku's eyes fluttered open. He looked around then saw the woman next to him. "Hey, I remember you. Um… Kagome right?"

"That's right." She said looking at the tied boy. "Do you remember anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"Anything about right before you died?"

"Um, no. Why?"

Kagome sighed. "When you do remember, it will not be pleasant."

"Huh?"

"You will most likely try and kill yourself believing that it will somehow redeem you."

"What are you talking about?" Kohaku was now getting angry. _"Why would I do that?"_

"Just remember not to, please." She said, her voice pleading.

"Why would I kill my self? What would that accomplish?" He nearly yelled back at her.

Kagome's eyes flared in her own anger. She grabbed Kohaku by the collar of his armor and stood up, holding him off the ground to her eye level. "Nothing! That's my point!"

Kohaku wanted to crawl into a corner at seeing a type of anger in the woman's eyes and voice he had never seen before, it didn't seem human.

"You will know what I mean when you remember!" She continued, the anger not leaving her voice. "I don't care what you will feel or how you will react to it. Just don't take your sister down with you!"

"What?"

"She has been through enough with what happened to me and I will not let her go through even more pain at losing her brother! I already did along with every friend I ever had and I can tell you that if you kill yourself and put her through that pain, I will find you! I will find you and I will make you watch as you push Sango over the edge! I will make you watch her pain!"

With that Kagome threw the tied boy back on the dirt road of the now abandoned village.

"You hear that?" She said pointing to one of the entrances to the village that they could not see.

Kohaku looked at her confused then he heard it. He looked in the direction she had pointed.

"KAGOME!"

"COME BACK!"

The boy's eyes widened, the last one was his sister shouting. He looked back at the black robed woman in front of him to see she was crying.

"I already hurt them enough. Don't you dare do it to them again."

With that she reached into her robe and pulled out another pink shard. She threw the two of them to land right in front of Kohaku's mud covered face. Kagome then turned around and walked away from the boy. He was about to say something, but she promptly disappeared without leaving a trace.

The crying woman appeared on the edge of the forest surrounding the village. She slowly walked into the thick trees and stopped with a figure on either side of her.

The figure to her right was shorter than she was and was leaning against a tree. "Did you finish what you wanted to do?" He asked.

"I gave them the shard Shunsui got and I saved the boy."

"That didn't answer my question."

"…"

"Kagome-chan it's never a good idea to dwell on the past." Said the figure to her left. She was also leaning against a tree.

"Kohaku would normally die if someone were to take the shard out of his neck. I just did it with him surviving. Kikyo will notice the shards eventually, and if she doesn't then Shippo will tell them that I fought him. Either way they will find Kohaku and the shards."

Kagome began to walk away. The two figures looked at each other. Both thinking the same thing. _"Captain Kyoraku was right, she isn't telling us everything."_

Somewhere far away, in a small clearing, laid three people. After Toshiro and Rangiku said that they didn't mind sleeping outside, they fell asleep on the soft grass. Even though she was the only one awake, Kagome just stared at the stars. Eventually, she closed her eyes as well.

She could feel the ground under her back disappear, and then come back under her feet. She was standing. She then felt a light breeze on her face. When Kagome opened her eyes, she was not in the clearing anymore, and Toshiro and Rangiku were nowhere to be found. But she was not surprised.

Kagome stood in a field, with only more of the field visible. There were no trees, no mountains in the distance, and no landmarks of any kind. All that could be seen was knee-deep grass blowing in a never-ending breeze. The field continued on forever.

There was no sun in the sky but it was bright blue like it was noon. No clouds could be seen either, just blue sky continuing on for as long as anyone could see.

Kagome stared out across the endless plain until she sensed someone behind her, but she still remained silent as she looked up to the blue sky.

"You know why you're here, correct?" Came a high-pitched, almost musical, feminine voice from the other person.

"It's about why I said what I did to Kohaku, right?" Replied Kagome, not taking her eyes off the sky, remembering the undeniable anger she felt in the conversation.

"Yes, it is. Whatever it is that is inside of you is coming faster then ever and it's starting to effect your emotions."

"Does it mean to harm me?"

"No." At hearing this, Kagome looked over her shoulder to see that the person behind her was staring at the sky like she had been. It was a woman, and all Kagome could see of her was her short white hair that stopped just below her ears and had a blue tint to it. She wore a dark blue kimono with a rip from the bottom to her knee on her left side.

"Do you know what it does want?" Kagome looked back at the sky.

"It seems that all it wants is to be free, like me."

"You know what it's doing to me. Why do you say it doesn't mean any harm?"

"Because I know the feeling that it is giving off." With that the pure blue sky turned a dark crimson, bathing the field in red light. "I felt the same way before I was turned into a sword. I felt trapped, but when the chance came, I broke free. Did I ever do any harm to you?"

"No, never. You have been the one who kept me sane through the long years. But what are you saying this thing is?" Kagome turned around to the white haired woman.

"I believe it is a part of you." She answered without turning to face Kagome.

"What do you mean?"

"As I was a part of you, when I was trapped so was your true power. Then, when I broke free, you became much stronger."

"Then what will happen when this thing breaks out?"

"I believe that I am only one of your souls, and that this _being_ that is inside of is another. It means no harm to you, just like I. And even when it's just trying to come closer, it's already making both of us stronger."

"Why do you say both of us?"

With a sigh, the white haired turned around. She looked at Kagome expectantly.

Kagome looked at the woman confused, until she saw a gleam from around her neck. She looked down and her eyes widened.

"Aokakesu, what does that mean?" As Kagome said this, the sky returned to blue. The object of her surprise was her Zanpakuto's necklace, or rather what was on it.

When Kagome first came here, to her inner world, Aokakesu's necklace had a single bronze colored flower made of metal. When Kagome finally learned the name of her now closest friend, it became white. Along with that, one bright golden flower and one black flower, also made of metal, appeared on the necklace.

Now there were four flowers. The white one, gold one, black one, and now a bright purple flower hung from the string.

"It would seem that the closer whatever it is that's inside of you gets to breaking out, the stronger you get, just like last time. So it involuntarily make me stronger as well." Aokakesu said as the sky became crimson again.

They both looked at the sky for a minute before it turned back to blue.

"What about that?" Asked Kagome, neither of them looking away.

"It would seem that your subconscious isn't ready for it to come out. So thus your priestess powers are fighting. The only way for it to come to an end is for them to blend together."

"When do you think that will happen?" The sky returned to crimson.

"Do you remember a year or so before you learned my name?"

"Yes. You kept making me have painful visions."

"That was so that you would finally be ready for my power and so I could become part of your inner world."

"Then you did that on purpose?" Kagome asked, more in shock then anger.

"No, I was doing it before I myself had a conscious. Even though I did not know I was causing you pain, I am very sorry." Though her voice sounded monotone. Kagome had known Aokakesu for so long that she knew she really meant it.

"It's ok, I forgave you for that long ago.

The sky became a light blue again. "I guess that the color of the sky is the color of the reiatsu belonging to the more prominent being, your subconscious or the new comer."

"… What was the color before you came here?"

"It was plain white."

"… And what is the color of your reiatsu?"

"A dark blue, the same color as my kimono."

After what felt like hours, the sky returned to red once again and the two looked at each other.

"You never told me why I'm suddenly saying thing like what I said to Kohaku."

"Your changing because of what is trying to break free. Just like you did when I was doing the same. Your emotions are flaring in uncontrollable ways, but will probably stop soon."

"I don't appear to be changing to a nicer me." Kagome said sarcastically.

"As I said, we are both different souls. We are probably also have significant effects on your emotions. The 'you' that was sealed away with me was part that loved." Kagome cringed at the statement, but Aokakesu continued. "The 'you' that is sealed with the new comer is most likely the part of you that hates."

"If it's the part that _hates_ then that just makes me wonder if it really does not mean any harm."

"Only one way to find out."

"I guess so, but it will be causing me visions too, won't it?"

"Most likely. Do you think handle it?"

"I have to, don't I?" With that Kagome leaned backwards and fell on the grass. She lay there looking at the crimson sky. "Thank you for your time, Aokakesu."

Kagome began to fade from her inner world. Just before she completely gone, the sky once again became the light blue Kagome knew so well.

"_I guess that it won't be like that for much longer."_ She thought as she came back to the real world, not even opening her eyes before she fell to sleep.


	14. Luxury

**Luxury**

_That's just another thing that made us different, Kikyo..._

"… I love you."

… _And that's something that made us similar._

"W-what?"

_Because while you love him as I once had…_

"I- I love you Inuyasha. My heart may have stopped but I finally realize that."

_Feeling things that you felt before you died… I never had that luxury._

"I… I love you too."

* * *

Well, this day just goes from bad, to scary, to worse, to just plain messed up.

After I convinced Toshiro and Rangiku that I didn't need to do anything else, even though it was obvious they didn't believed me, we started heading back to the well.

That was when it got bad

On the way to the well, we ran into Sesshomaru.

"Aren't you the priestess that follows my brother?" He had asked in his normal, emotionless tone.

"Yes, that's me."

"I had heard that you fell from a cliff. Why are you here, and who are these two?" While he showed no interest, there was a kind of tone in his voice that just _made_ you answer.

"These are some of my newer acquaintances. I had to leave the company of Inuyasha because of some unfortunate events." Even with that strange tone in his voice, I did not tell him everything. I was just as old as he was anyway.

The bad part of meeting him was when someone else came out into the clearing.

"Sesshomaru-sama, Jaken ran into a tree and fell unconscious again. Who are they?"

I assumed that she never got an answer. I had left the clearing before she could see me, and Toshiro and Rangiku followed afterwards as soon as they noticed.

I didn't want to see the look on Rin's cute face. I knew it would be the exact same as Shippo's, and I couldn't stand to see it again.

After that we made it back to Soul Society without a problem. Apparently, after Shunsui returned, he had told all of the other captains what little I had told him. It consisted of how I died, my family, Inuyasha and the group, and all from when I was alive that I felt important. I had left out a very large part, or at least in my mind it was big, and I did not trust anyone enough to tell him.

The information trickled down to all of the lieutenants and some of the higher seated positoned people that were popular enough to be around when the lieutenants talked about it.

From what I heard, it seemed that for some reason, no one had told the Captain Commander. Whether this was caused by something similar to fear or that no one ever talked to him anyway, I had no idea. Whatever the reason, it was bad for me because my story had won over the hearts of what seemed like almost all that heard it, but he still treated me like a spy.

I had to go to yet _another_ meeting with the captains and lieutenants. This one was for if I would be returning to the past or the living world in general for more 'personal matters'.

"There may be a reason that will need my return in the future but there are none at the moment." Was all I said.

Live a couple dozen years not knowing what you are but still have people ask you anyway, and you learn how to say the right things.

"Very well then. You are to remain in Soul Society until there is a reason that we find requires your assistance." But it seemed the old man had gone through something similar.

While I had learned very few of the names that belonged to those in the group of shinigami present, I did learn some. I also learned that they were positioned around the room based on their squad numbers. Also figured out that the captains of the third, fifth, and ninth squad were not present in any of the meeting I have come to, but their apparent lieutenants were.

With a sigh, I turned to leave, believing that the meeting was over. I had no idea where I was going and even if I did I wouldn't be able to get there, this place is just to damn confusing.

That was when it got scary

No one had a problem with my leaving and looked ready to leave as well. But before I could make it through the doorway, someone spoke up. "May I make a request?" I stopped and turned to the voice.

"Proceed." Said the Captain Commander.

I heard a snicker and saw that it was one of the captains that had spoken, the one with spiky hair and an eye patch.

One thing was that this captain was scary, no other word for it. He was tied with the white-skinned captain for the creepiest person I ever met. I was instantly worried, and by the looks of it, so were most of the others present.

"I would like to go one-on-one with this woman." He said, jutting his finger in my direction.

Normally, I would of at least glared at him or even spoken out. But something about the sadistic grin had had combined with his scared face, eye patch, and figure in general, just scared me enough to not say anything.

"Not to the death or anything, but I want to see how strong she really is." Saying this, the captain's free eye looked directly at me. I looked back, unblinking. His grin widened.

After I recovered from the slight episode of tunnel vision, I saw that everyone else was looking at me expectantly.

"I'm sorry, what?" I said after I realized that they had asked a question.

"Do you wish to have a match with captain Zaraki?" Asked the Captain Commander.

"May I ask why you wish to fight me?" I said, looking back at said captain.

His grin somehow widened more. "It has been a while since I've had a good fight and I believe that I am out of shape. I have also heard that you are strong. Do I need another reason?"

"Why pick me?"

"Neither one of us has seen the other fight so we will have to go in blind, just like a real fight."

We stared at each other for a minute longer before I spoke. "I might as well if I will be stuck here. When and where do you want to do it?"

Once again, Zaraki's grin widened to impossible lengths and his visible eye narrowed. He chuckled slightly. "This will be fun, I can just tell."

* * *

After it was decided, we immediately worked our way to a large field of short grass, surrounded by buildings connected to make a wall-like circle. It was a large field, about a hundred feet across. On the buildings was the audience, which consisted of EVERYONE.

All the captains and lieutenants were there, even the Captain Commander. They had to walk through the strangely paved streets to get to the field, so of course people saw them. Much like high school, the gossip spread like wildfire. Apparently, a captain fighting is rare because it looked to be almost five hundred other spectators to be watching.

There was a light breeze and an almost clear sky.

"What are the rules?" I asked the only other person in the field. Everything else was silent.

"Fight until one of us can't move anymore." Zaraki said, his grin remaining.

"Very well." With that, I drew my sword and he drew his. Just by this I noticed two differences in how we fight. One, he only used one hand to hold his sword while I gripped mine with two. The second difference was that his sword was badly abused and had many dents and nicks. I knew enough about fighting styles to know that that meant he only used his sword, not his feet or free hand. It also meant that he mainly relied on brute strength, making it a good chance that he didn't have much speed.

A moment after our swords were drawn, I learned that one of my assumptions was wrong. He's fast, very fast.

In a second he was right in front of me, swinging his sword. As soon as I realized this, my fighting instincts took over.

I brought up my sword to block his swing. As soon as it made contact, I slammed my sword into the ground, his getting caught in the hilt and being taken with it. With my sword five inches into the dirt, I brought my knee up right into his chest.

Using my blade as a pivot point, I kicked the psycho on the side of his face, sending him skidding along the ground a good ten feet back.

As the battle continued, I'm certain they either thought we were evenly matched or that he was winning. He continued to slash at me like the madman he is, the smile never leaving his face.

The reason I'm sure they thought I was losing was because I never slashed back at him, I simply blocked.

It was plainly obvious that neither of us was going anywhere near all out, but that doesn't mean we weren't taking this seriously.

Zaraki seemed to simply go by the tactic of 'Rush in and attack like crazy' while I was able to block every attack of his with my sword then deliver a series of kicks. This normally works wonders considering the power I can put behind my kicks. Unfortunately, it seemed he had an unnaturally high tolerance of pain. If that his grin remained no matter how many sickening crunches were heard was any indication.

The match continued the same way for about five minutes in silence before Zaraki spoke. "You're pretty good. But we both know your holding back."

"So are you." I shot back, causing both of us to skid to a stop and stare at each other, both breathing heavily.

"So true." Zaraki said as he stood up straight, looking relaxed. "While I know from what Toshiro told us, you can release your zanpakuto, you might want to do it now."

"Why?"

His grin once again widened. "I'm about to go all out and while I don't know my Zanpakuto's name, you better not underestimate me." Zaraki finished with a slight chuckle.

My eyes narrowed. _"I thought captains were the strongest shinigami?"_ I thought. _"If he was able to get to that position without knowing his Zanpakuto's name then I really shouldn't take him lightly."_

After common sense took over I held my sword parallel with the ground and said. **"Sing to the Setting Sun, Aokakesu"**

As the flower-shaped guard grew larger and feathers adorned the flat of the blade, the watching man's face looked about to be split in half by his very much insane and very scary grin.

"Then I guess we go all out from this point forward." With his free hand he reached up and gripped his eye patch, his eye narrowed when I tensed. "This should be fun, but please don't die."

With that said, Zaraki ripped of his eye patch. A moment of silence passed, then two. Finally there was something easily resembling an explosion. Yellow energy erupted from the now laughing man and a strong wind began to whip around the field.

"_Crap."_ Was all I had time to think before he charged me.

I was able to jump backwards and dodge his slash, but when the blade met the ground, there was another smaller explosion, this one with chunks of earth and dust flying about.

When the dust settled Zaraki was still there, along with the yellow energy, smiling of course.

"_Ok, he's a lot stronger now."_ I thought, my eyes narrowing. _"He's just as fast as I am… Not much hope at winning it seems. Oh well might as well go out with a bang."_

"Good, it seems you are finally ready to fight for real." Zaraki said. "Now do you mind stop using those weak kicks, they are rather annoying."

That was when it worse

I'm not quite sure what happened. One moment Zaraki is talking to me with us more then ten feet apart. The next, well…

"I'LL SHOW YOU WEAK!" I yelled at him from… behind him… six feet in the air.

I somehow did all did that subconsciously, and before I even realized it, my foot already made contact with the side of his shoulder.

Normally, my kicks are only strong enough to maybe dislocate his shoulder in this situation. That's what happens normally… This is defiantly normal.

After a series of rather loud cracking sounds, the psycho I somehow managed to kick was launched to the side and hit the wall… sixty feet away.

Only after I landed did I seem to regain any of my motor functions. Almost instantly a feeling of vertigo came over me, followed by a headache.

"_What the hell was that?"_ I managed to ask myself over my throbbing skull. _"How did I just do that?"_

Apparently, Kenpachi is the surname given to the person who loves to fight more then anyone else along with has the greatest bloodlust. So, according to his name, the stronger of an enemy you are when fighting, the crazier he will become… And I just proved to some how be faster then him along with being able to kick him a good sixty feet away.

Now this would be a problem in any case, but if you have no idea how you just did that, it would be an even worse problem.

Now take into account that why he does have an insane tolerance to pain and I only just damaged the arm he _doesn't_ use to hold his sword. Along with that I now am unable to even see straight.

Lastly, remember that this _was_ a no-kill match. 'Was' because there is a good chance that the man I just kicked happened to forget the one and only rule in the match, most likely to his now very unstable bloodlust.

All this points to one thing: I'm screwed.

"Well that was interesting." Came the last voice I wanted to hear. I could easily hear the smile he wore. "Mind telling me how you pulled that off?"

Zaraki stood back up, sword in hand. His left arm was hanging limply at his side, but he didn't seem to mind, judging by his ever-constant smile.

"_Ugh… What is with this headache?"_ I thought, my sense of balance slowly returning.

We stared at each other without moving for what seemed like hours, mainly because of my headache. Zaraki then raised his sword with me mimicking his actions.

"_Come on, think!"_ I mentally yelled. _"How did I just do that? And why the sudden headache-"_ A sudden flash of pain interrupted my thoughts. It was brief but felt very similar to having ones head implode. _"Great, now what?"_ I thought, using my free hand to grip my head in pain.

I stumbled backwards with a grunt as the last of the pain subsided. I didn't even notice my headache was gone as well. When I looked back to where Zaraki was I saw him charging at me. I was just able to jump to the side before his sword swung past where my neck was.

That was when my day became just too messed up for me to care anymore

I skidded to a halt and was about to go on the offense when my vision became something akin to a strobe light. It was flashing between what I should have seen and an image of… me?

It was an image of me just lying there… And I appeared to be dead, if the pool blood and sword through my heart were any indication.

"_Oh, just perfect. So they are starting now!"_ I yelled at myself as I dodged another swing. _"Not a very helpful time for either the pain or image. Then again they aren't really helpful at anytime… I got to end this before I lose consciousness, who knows if he'll bother to stop attacking if I do."_

With that I concentrated for a moment, which isn't an easy thing to do when you're dodging a psychopath. When I heard a light humming sound, I spared a glance at my sword to see that the flower shaped guard had become gold and a trail of golden energy was coming from the tip, creating an erratic pattern form my dodging movements.

Zaraki also took notice of this. "Is this what your zanpakuto does? I think there's still something your hiding from me." He said.

"_His movements are to random for me to predict were he will be looking, making it impossible for me draw an accurately placed circle…"_ I thought my eyes narrowing as I ducked under another swing. I kicked him in the chest and jumped back. _"Guess I got to make it so there is nowhere there isn't a circle."_

I began to run in a wide circle around the man, holding Aokakesu with one hand. Zaraki just stood there watching me as I began to spin my sword with my fingers. That, combined with my running, made a trail of intricate circles of the golden energy.

After the trail went all of the way around Zaraki, I stopped. Panting slightly I looked at the man though my strobe light vision and called. **"Merido-Dai."**

A ball of white energy formed in the center of each of the dozens of circles I had drawn before they all silently exploded in a flash of light.

The field was filled with the sounds of the observers screaming and groaning at being blinded. _"I hope Shiro-chan was smart enough to look away."_ I thought as the guard of my sword turned a deep, almost black, violet. I was about to rush forward, but stopped at a thought. _"Wait… No… I might as well test this out."_ After concentrating again, after a moment the hilt became a lighter purple and the humming continued.

I looked at the newly transformed katana I held. _"What do I do now?"_ I thought through my still painful flashes. As if to answer my question, a ball of bright purple energy formed just off the tip of the blade. In an almost trance, I raised Aokakesu and pointed at the temporarily blinded man known as Zaraki. He had not moved since the flash. He's only crazy, not stupid, he wouldn't just charge in a random direction when he can't see.

My gaze going between the ball of energy and Zaraki. _"Might as well try…"_ I thought with a sigh, then focused on the man and said. **"Merido-Keimei."**

Zaraki's head snapped up to the sound of my voice, it seemed he was about to move in some way, but was stopped when he was struck by… lightning? _"I can use lightning?"_ Was all I thought.

And it was true. From the ball of energy came a bolt of lightning, it was also a bright purple color.

There was no sound from the lightning itself, but once it struck its target, there were more screams. That only reminded me why I'm scared of Zaraki, because, while he screamed for obvious reasons, he was also laughing. _"How is he even human?"_ I asked my self as the lightning subsided and Zaraki fell on his back. He was probably unconscious because he wasn't laughing anymore.

"_Melody of the Dawn_… Interesting name at least." I said to myself. "Although I don't see how that is related to lightning in anyway… Well he isn't smiling anymore so I have no problem with it."

With that Aokakesu returned to her sealed form and I sheathed her. I suddenly noticed that the image of me dieing was flashing faster now.

"_If I'm right then I should soon fall unconscious after the flashes subtle and all I can see is the image…"_ Right as I thought that, it came true. My strobe light like symptoms were gone, leaving only the increasingly annoying image of the dead me. _"And then the pain should spike drastically, thus following peaceful unconsciousness…"_

I waited for a few moments before said surge of pain came. If that hadn't shattered my thoughts I probably would have realized that the scream I heard was mine. The pain continued and I barely felt the ground that I just collapsed onto.

Somehow, I was able to make a conscious thought over the steadily increasing pain before I blacked out.

"_Seems the visions are just as painful as they were last time… I wonder if this one will come true…"_


	15. Smile

**AN:** Ok, really long time since I updated, but I have a semi-good reason as to why that is. I stopped writing this chapter when I couldn't think of how to do certain parts. I have already written the sixteenth and part of the seventeenth chapter. I still think that this chapter is badly written but I figured that it's been long enough since my last update.

* * *

**Smile**

"_Let's see… White walls… Check. No windows… Check. Lying on bed… Check. Sword on table… Check. Cleaned clothes also on table… No… weird, and here I am thinking I'm having a serious case of déjà vu… Either that or I somehow learned how to go back in time by only a couple of weeks instead of five hundred years… But that doesn't seem to be the case… Why am I here then?"_

With that in mind Kagome sat up in the small room and looked around. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and sat there, trying to remember, but coming to no conclusion.

"_I saved Shippo and Kohaku, came back to Soul Society, went to a meeting, argued with the old guy, and then… I can't remember… Great, that only means one thing."_

She remained like that for what felt like hours until she heard voices outside the door. She ignored them and continued to think. A moment later she heard the door open, followed by a slight gasp. She ignored that as well.

"You're awake." Came a slightly familiar voice, which was promptly ignored. "Hello… You are awake right?"

"Yeah." Kagome finally answered, but didn't move otherwise.

"… Do you feel alright?"

"Yeah." Again, there was no other movement.

The person came to the bed and sat down next to Kagome. "Higurashi-san, I can't go back to my captain without getting more than two words from you."

Kagome finally turned to the speaking person. "Isane-chan!" She exclaimed.

"'Chan'?" Isane said back with a raised eyebrow.

Kagome blushed slightly, though went unnoticed by the only other in the room. "Sorry." She said sheepishly. Then she remembered what she had been thinking about. "Why am I here?"

"You fell unconscious."

"Why?"

Isane looked away from Kagome before answering. "No one really knows."

"Huh?"

"I mean no one really saw what happened, that thing you did blinded everybody."

"What was the thing I did?"

"Don't you remember?"

"No." Kagome deadpanned.

"What?"

"That's why I asked why I fell unconscious, the last thing I remember is arguing with the old guy."

"Old guy?"

"Um… One of the captains, the one with the freakishly long beard."

It took Isane a moment to understand. "You mean the Captain Commander?"

"I think so."

"It's not a very good idea to call him old, he doesn't like you very much as it is."

"I really don't care." With that, Kagome reached over and picked up her zanpakuto, placing it in her lap. While looking at it she spoke again. "So what did happen?"

With a sigh, Isane began the story. "After the meeting was over you were told to stay in Soul Society until it is believed you are needed elsewhere. Before anyone could leave Captain Kenpachi challenged you and you accepted. We moved to a field for the fight, many people were watching including all the other captains and lieutenants. It seemed like a pretty even match until you suddenly started overpowering him. You used some sort of attack that gave off a bright flash that blinded everyone watching. When anyone was able to see again you were both unconscious but you didn't have any injuries at all. So like I said, no one knows what happened."

"That does sound familiar, when was this?" Asked Kagome, not looking up from her sword.

"Yesterday."

"And how's the other person, um… Kenpachi, is it?"

"That's right, and he's still unconscious but his wounds are healed. Strange injuries too. He had multiple broken bones and it looked like he was burned… badly."

"Burned? Weird. I can't do anything that burns." Kagome then looked up at Isane with a slightly bored expression. "There is something else you wanted to ask, what is it?"

Isane looked back, wide eyed. "H-how did you know?"

"Live a couple hundred years and you pick up a few things." She said simply.

"R-right, um, well… The story Captain Kyoraku told us all… he said that he had a feeling you left something out… is that true?" Isane asked, rather sheepishly.

Kagome looked at the only other person present with a calculating gaze. In truth, she had actually _tried_ to make it obvious that she left something out when she told her 'limited' story to Shunsui. Even she didn't know why she did it, but had a strange feeling that Aokakesu did.

A minute of silence passed before Kagome spoke. "Do you mind giving me a minute to think to myself?" Even though it was a question, it was obvious that only one answer would be accepted.

Isane nodded. "I'll be waiting outside for when you're ready to talk." She didn't know what else to say. So she slowly stood up and left, closing the door behind her.

The hallway outside of Kagome's room was a wide one. There were no guards at the door this time and a bench could be located against the wall. Isane sat down on the bench and prepared for a long wait.

Her captain assigned her to look after Kagome while she was 'injured'. They couldn't really call her that because she had no major, if any, injuries that caused her state she is in now. Because it was an order from her superior officer, Isane had to stay with Kagome until she was better, but trying to be a friend she decided she could just wait outside.

About ten minutes passed and Isane was getting impatient. She was about to knock on the door when she heard a voice from the other direction. She turned to see the captain and lieutenant of Squad Ten walking towards her.

Out of mostly instinct, she stood up and bowed to the two. "Hello, Captain Hitsugaya, Matsumoto."

Toshiro nodded to her and stopped a speaking distance from the sliver haired woman. "How is she?" He asked, gesturing to the door.

Instead of answering, Isane just stared at the captain for a moment, cocking her head to the side.

A strange silence passed through them. "Are you going to answer me?"

"… Huh? I'm sorry what did you say?" Isane asked, coming out of her trance.

"Why did you space out?"

"No reason, sorry." Isane said, shaking her head.

Toshiro looked at Isane for a moment, confused by her reaction, but brushed it off. "How is Kagome doing?"

"She's fine. She was awake the last time I was in there, which was a little over ten minutes ago. She asked to be alone so she could think. It appears that she doesn't remember anything past her argument with the Captain Commander." Once she finished, Isane looked at Toshiro with a confused expression and cocked her head to the side again.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Toshiro asked in an almost bored tone.

"Nothing, sorry… It's just… Did you get taller?"

The reaction wasn't that surprising. A tick mark appeared on his forehead and he closed his eyes to calm himself. The fact that his lieutenant was trying not to laugh, and hiding it badly, wasn't helping him.

"Can I go in?" The white haired boy said through his teeth, still suppressing his anger.

"Sure." While Rangiku recovered from her laughing fit, Isane open the door and walked inside. The other two were about to follow when they heard, "How did you get in here?"

"I was carried, more or less." Came a high-pitched voice that neither of the two in the hallway recognized.

"What are you doing to Kagome?" Isane shouted. The serious and somewhat scared tone of her voice caused Toshiro and Rangiku to rush into the room. Inside was a strange sight.

Isane was glaring at another woman that they assumed was the owner of the high-pitched voice they heard. She had shoulder length white hair and a simple dark blue kimono. Her right hand glowed slightly and she had her index finger pressed against Kagome's forehead. The woman was standing next to said black haired woman who was sitting on the side of the bed with a blank gaze. Her eyes were glazed over and staring at nothing in particular while her mouth was hanging limply.

"You will find out what I am doing eventually. For now I have to concentrate. So if you please, shut up." Said the woman. Her high-pitched voice didn't seem to go match her emotionless face.

Toshiro growled and instinctively reached for his zanpakuto, only to find it not there. _"Dammit, I left it at the barracks."_ He looked and saw that Isane and his lieutenant didn't have theirs either.

Not having a sword to use, Rangiku held her hands up wit her right palm facing the stranger and bracing it with her left. "Like hell we will, get away from her! **Hado 31: Shakkaho (Way of Destruction 31: Shot of Red Fire)!**" A ball of red energy appeared in her palm, a moment later it shot with expert accuracy.

The light and followed explosion temporarily blinded the others present. When the small amount of dust settled the first thing they thought is that she missed. There was a large hole in the ceiling above the stranger and Kagome. They then saw the white haired woman holding a sword that was familiar to one of the watching shinigami.

"That's Kagome's!" Toshiro said in disbelief. While Isane and Rangiku had seen Kagome use it in her match with Zaraki, they were to far away to get a good look at it, but upon Toshiro saying that they instantly recognized it. "How are you using Kagome's Shikai?"

The white haired stranger looked at them, no emotions showing on her tanned skin. "I would answer, but as I said, I need to concentrate. You can help by staying quiet." With that she looked back to Kagome and closed her eyes. She lowered the released sword that was still smoking from deflecting the kido.

"_Bright blue feathers, large bronze flower shaped guard, that's defiantly Kagome's shikai, how is she able to use it?"_ Toshiro thought as he grit his teeth. _"And I know it's released because a sealed sword could never deflect a kido."_ His gaze drifted to the bed. "What the hell?" He muttered under his breath.

The two lieutenants looked at the captain to see him looking at something wide-eyed. They followed his gaze and saw something next to Kagome. Rangiku recognized it first. Having something pressed against your throat makes you tend to remember it. "What is going on here?" She gasped.

"What? I don't get it?" Isane asked.

"That's Kagome's sword…" Toshiro said, pointing at the sword the stranger was still holding. "… And so is that." He finished pointing to the sword on the bed.

"I told you." They turned to origin of the high pitched only to see that the white haired woman hadn't moved. "I need to concentrate, the longer you stay quiet, the quicker this will go. When it's over, I'll explain everything… Well not _everything_, but I'll explain everything you deserve to know."

For unknown reasons, none of the shinigami made a move. There were too many mysteries surrounding the stranger before them. To make this scene even stranger, no one else came. The kido blast should have brought every shinigami running, but none came.

A couple minutes later, the white haired woman removed her finger from Kagome's forehead. Soon thereafter, Kagome fell backwards onto the bed and began… snoring?

The stranger let out a loud sigh and muttered something under her breath. "Wake up." She said but got no visible response. "Why is it that every time I do that you fall asleep?" The woman asked but once again got no response. "Normally I would let you sleep but I don't feel like talking to those three, so…"

The white haired woman seemed to think for a moment before she leaned over the sleeping woman and whispered something into her ear. She then jumped back just in time to avoid Kagome shooting up into a sitting position and looking around frantically. She then spotted the woman that woke her. "Why did you wake me up?" She yelled at her. "You know that I'm not a morning person!"

The stranger just pointed at the three shinigami. "You talk to them, I'm to tired." It was then that both parties noticed something. Kagome that there were others in the room and Toshiro and the two lieutenants that the stranger no longer had a sword.

"Hello." Kagome said with a smile to the three shinigami. "What you here for?"

"Um, Kagome, who is this?" Isane voiced everyone's question while looking at the stranger through narrowed eyes. "And how did she get in here, no one else came into the room."

Kagome was confused until she followed Isane's glare. "Oh, this is my zanpakuto, Aokakesu." She gestured to the white haired woman who had taken to leaning on the wall.

The audience stared at the white haired woman with wide eyes and jaws hanging loosely. "You can materialize your zanpakuto?" Toshiro asked, getting a nod from Kagome. "How? That takes years to do." When he didn't get an answer he looked back at Kagome to see her giving him a bored look.

"Five hundred years old, remember?" Kagome said rhetorically.

While Toshiro looked away in embarrassment, Rangiku had a thought. "Does that mean you can use bankai?"

"Bankai?" Kagome asked in obvious confusion. "You guys do remember that I don't know _anything_ about what a zanpakuto, right?"

"Bankai is the strongest form of a zanpakuto, very few people have a chance to obtain it." Toshiro said. "You get it from materializing your zanpakuto, like you seemed to have done, and subjugating it."

Before Kagome could speak, Aokakesu spoke up. "I have been able to form in this world since about fifty years after Kagome died. I do not know if that is this 'materialization' you are talking about but my strongest form when I'm a sword is the one you've all seen and I don't think that's a bankai."

There was silence as everyone absorbed that. "Ok then, Kagome." Toshiro said. "What happened to you in the match?"

"I would have assumed you were smart enough to look away instead of getting blinded." She replied in a playful tone.

"That's not what I meant, I did look away."

"You did?" The white haired boy's lieutenant said. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"Because I wanted to speak with Kagome first." He then turned back to said woman. "I saw you shoot what looked like lightning at Captain Kenpachi and then scream and fall unconscious. Mind explaining?"

Kagome sighed. "That can all be explained."

"I thought you didn't remember anything from the fight." Isane accused, her eyes narrowing.

"I didn't, but I will explain. You might want to take a seat, it'll be a long explanation"

She waited for everyone to sit down in various positions on the floor since Rangiku had immediately rushed to take the only other sitting position on the bed saying 'I call bed'. Aokakesu hadn't moved and continued to lean on the wall.

"Ok, where to begin." Kagome muttered as she arranged her thoughts. "Ok, I'm ready… Do you remember that meeting I went to after the big battle with all the hollows?" When receiving nods from the shinigami present, she continued. "Remember when I said I had powers when I was alive?" More nods. "Well to be more specific, I was a priestess."

"You still are." The white haired zanpakuto interrupted. "You never lost your powers and you know it."

"I just don't think that a dead person should be able to be a priestess, nor do I like being one." Kagome shot back.

"Wait, what's a priestess?" Isane asked, she always hated being out of the loop, which seemed to happen to her a lot.

"A priestess is a person, only female as far as I know, that has the powers of the purification of unholy spirits." Kagome said. "They have been know to use bows and arrows being as they can easily infuse their power into it."

"You keep talking like you're not a priestess but didn't you say you were?" Rangiku said, quirking an eyebrow when she heard Aokakesu sigh.

"It annoys me as well." The zanpakuto said. _"Not that I can blame her."_ She silently admitted.

"I do not consider myself a priestess. In life, and even in death, it had given me nothing but trouble. I refuse to use it now that I have another way to defend myself so thus, over the years it has become harder and harder to use." Kagome sighed. "It's a stupid reason but that is it, I'm getting off track anyway." She fell back to lie on the bed she was sitting on.

Again, she arranged her thoughts, giving the room a minute of silence.

She finally let out a sigh and began again. "If I had to hazard a guess I'd say that my priestess powers are what caused all the problems in the first place… When I died, I was unable to wield Aokakesu. I could carry her as just a sword, but I could not learn her name. I believe that this was because she was the opposite of my priestess powers and they rejected each other. To get over this, my subconscious had to change drastically… and painfully.

"But, with my priestess powers being the annoying bitch that they are, they fought back, thus causing the pain. The way it did this was sudden rise in the power of it, far beyond what any human could handle, dead or alive. This resulted in something that constantly annoys me… The ability to see the future."

Multiple gasps were heard in the room. "That's incredible!" Rangiku couldn't help but think of the possibilities. "Could you tell me what will happen-" She was cut off by the sudden rise of reiatsu. Such a large amount of it concentrated on her made it froze the lieutenant in place. She looked down at Kagome to see her glaring at her. The woman's face was emotionless but her eyes burned with hatred.

"Did you forget about what I just said about it being painful? Besides it stopped once I learned Aokakesu's name, five centuries ago." Kagome almost hissed out before the force of reiatsu suddenly vanished. As the shinigami present gasped for breath, Kagome continued. "The pain is so great that it completely numbs all my senses _before_ it actually comes into full effect. That alone would kill me instantly, the only reason it doesn't is because Aokakesu's power spikes at the same time. It has to rise over that of my priestess powers, and while this allows me to survive it temporarily shuts off my brain. While that happens I'm not in control of my body and with the sudden boost of power it's probably possible for me to do _anything_.

"When my brain comes back on I'm not able to walk or even see straight along, while having a really painful headache. That's when I start having the visions, but because my brain just turned on and is slowly _rebooting_, if you will, my sight flashes between what my eyes are seeing and the vision of the future. The vision itself is usually just a random still image of something that will eventually happen. It could happen the next day or years later, you never know."

"The perfect example being the subway incident." Aokakesu's high-pitched voice cut in.

"Subway?" Toshiro asked as Kagome let out a loud groan and covered her face with her hands.

"You had to bring that up?" Kagome's complained was muffled slightly by her hands. "Why that one?"

"Like I said it's the perfect example." The white haired zanpakuto's said in a slightly more cheerful tone then what the others had heard from her before. She did love to embarrass her friend.

"Do you know what else is a perfect example?" Kagome asked, removing her hands from her face and looking at her friend. "The thing with the tree."

When seeing the zanpakuto's eye twitch, Kagome chucked and gave a wide grin. "Never bring that up again, ever." Aokakesu growled out.

"You brought up the subway, I brought up the tree." Kagome managed to say between her chuckles.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Toshiro asked with badly hidden annoyance.

Once Kagome's light laughter died down she answered. "Just some visions I once had, not important. But I'll explain why they're examples. Once my subconscious was able to accept Aokakesu the visions stopped, thankfully. That was about ten years after I died, and while some visions came true shortly thereafter, like one where we had an interesting encounter with a tree came true a couple of decades later." She chuckled again at this. "Others, like an incident I had with a subway, only happened a little over a year ago."

"What happened with a subway?" Isane couldn't help but ask.

"Well, you see, there was this cat-"

"It's not important." Kagome cut off her zanpakuto and glared at her. "What I'm trying to say is that I have no idea when the visions will come true. Back to the main point, with my brain slowly _rebooting_ it will suddenly go to the vision then back to my normal sight. It will go back and forth but as my brain becomes more active, the frequency of the visions will increase until it becomes similar to a strobe light. By now the headache is gone but eventually my brain would become functional enough that all I can see is the image. That's usually right before my brain comes all the way back on and pain fully returns. But, as Aokakesu's and my priestess powers have gotten stronger, the pain is enough to completely knock me out shortly after it comes back. It also screws by brain so bad that I completely forget every thing of usually about an hour before hand. That's why I didn't remember anything." Kagome finished with another sigh and sat up, still looking at the ceiling.

As they all absorbed the rather complicated information, Toshiro came up with a question. "But, wait. If that happened centuries ago because of her…" He pointed at Aokakesu. "Then why did it happen during your match with Kenpachi?"

Kagome looked at her zanpakuto who in turn sighed. "There's another power inside of Kagome."

"What do you mean by that?" Isane asked.

"Exactly like it sounds like. There's another being, much like myself, inside of her. Just like last time her priestess powers are rejecting it and she has to go through the same thing as before."

"Is it something like that 'inner hollow' I remember Kurosaki talking about once?" Toshiro asked.

"I doubt it." She Said. "While I have no idea what that is, if it's name is anything to go by, then it's a hollow of some kind. Correct?"

"As far as I know, yes."

"Then it is not that. The other power inside of Kagome is a part of her soul like any zanpakuto but it reminds me nothing of a hollow. The closest thing it reminds me of is the demons from long ago, though I can't figure out why."

"It has been inside of Kagome as long as I have, that being since she died. It also seems to have significantly quickened in its process of aging since we first got here, most likely because of all the spirit particles that make up this place."

"What do you mean 'aging', I thought you said both you and it came into existence at the same time?" Said Isane.

"What I mean is that while we came into existence at the same time when that happened we were both very weak, no where near enough to over come Kagome's priestess powers and make ourselves onto a sword. The only way for either of us to become more powerful is just waiting or by taking it from something else. The only thing at the time that was available for us to take any energy from was what was left of Kagome's own energy from when she was alive, it's not like she needed it. There wasn't much of it and I took all of it, allowing me to manifest myself as a sword right away and then communicate with Kagome ten years later. That led to her priestess powers forcing me back, and you know the rest.

"On the other hand, the other _being_ had no power to absorb so thus it was never able to manifest itself as a sword… come to think of it I don't think it ever will. But anyways, I figured it would take another century or two until it had enough power for Kagome's priestess powers to begin fighting it back, but now it does have something to take power from: the spirit particles that make up everything Soul Society. Another thing is that it took about two years before Kagome's priestess powers accepted mine. After staying here for so long it could only be a couple weeks until they accept the other _being's_ powers."

"So… let me get this straight." Said Toshiro, looking back at Kagome. "You have two zanpakuto souls inside of you except that Aokakesu was the only one to become a sword when you died. The other one will soon become strong enough to do the same by you just being here. And during this time, which will be a few weeks, you will randomly have a vision of the future and pass out from the pain?" He finished in an unsure voice.

"Right on all accounts but one." Aokakesu said, causing everyone to look at her. "It will not become a sword, it is too late for it to do that. And if you look at it another way then I guess it can't be considered a zanpakuto if it can't become a sword."

"What do you mean by 'it's too late'?" Asked Isane.

"What I mean is that it is simply it cannot form into a solid mass so late after Kagome's death. Unlike myself who formed a sword as soon as possible."

"If it can't create a weapon form then whet good will it be?" Asked Rangiku.

"How should I know?" The white haired zanpakuto said rhetorically.

They were all silent as the last of the information settled in.

Finally Toshiro spoke up. "Ok, so now that that's out of the way, what were you doing earlier?" He finished looking at Aokakesu.

"When?" Was the woman's response.

"When we came in and your hand was glowing."

"Oh, that? Well remember how Kagome's brain is fried when she has a vision and can't remember anything?" Aokakesu said, receiving nods form the shinigami. "Well that was just my way of reminding her of what happened."

"How does that work out? There are a lot of things that a materialized zanpakuto can do but I've never heard of anything like that before." Said Rangiku.

"While Kagome doesn't remember anything, I do, and I can show her them by coming to the real world. For some reason she always falls asleep afterwards for some reason. I can also bring out the released form of myself in sword form but I can't use any of the attacks."

Again more silence as the information sunk in, no one could think of anything else to say. Just then a butterfly flew into the room from the still open door. It was completely black with an outline along its wings that was maroon. While this confused Kagome and Aokakesu, the others just looked intrigued.

The butterfly flew to Isane, who held out her hand for the butterfly to land on her finger gently. The woman stared at the insect for a couple of minutes before she sighed and the butterfly flew away.

"The Captain Commander heard that Kagome's awake and called another meeting." The 4th squad lieutenant said.

"How do you know that?" Asked an obviously confused Kagome.

"That was a messenger." Was Isane simple reply.

"You use butterflies to communicate?" Kagome asked sarcastically. "… That's kind of creepy."

"They're Jigokucho (Hell butterfly). They are the guilds for the path between this world and the world of the living. They are often used to deliver important messages." Said Toshiro. "But that's beside the point. We need to get to this meeting." When he finished everyone began to stand up.

"Can you not tell them all that you've heard yet?" Kagome asked.

The shinigami looked at her shocked. "Why?" Was all Rangiku could say.

"Simple, it would just prolong the meeting which I know no one wants." _"Except maybe the old guy."_ Kagome added to herself. "Just tell everyone you feel like telling later. Like how Shunsui did."

They accepted it simply enough and began to leave. "Wait what about…" Isane's question died in her mouth and she looked around, searching for something. "Where's Aokakesu?"

The two other shinigami looked around as well only to not find the white haired zanpakuto. "She returned when you were having a staring contest with the butterfly." Said Kagome, strapping her sword on her waist. She was about to walk out the door but stopped next to Toshiro.

She looked down at him with a slightly confused expression. "Did you get taller?" She asked the white haired captain.

Said captain began to grit his teeth and closed her eyes to suppress his anger. His lieutenant was, once again, failing to hide her laughter while Isane just managed a smile.

"Let's just go." Toshiro said as he left the room, followed by the others.

While they were walking through the series of hallways, Isane and Rangiku took the lead with Kagome and Toshiro not far behind.

"Kagome…" The captain whispered for only her to be able to hear.

"Yeah? What is it?" She asked in also a whisper.

"I just want to know something." He replied. "Now that you remember it, what is it you thought of Kenpachi when you were fighting him?"

While this confused the black haired woman, she answered anyway. "He seemed pretty strong, that thing he did when he took his eye patch off was freaky though."

"So you didn't notice…" He muttered to himself but she heard anyway.

"Notice what?" He paused, only adding to the woman's curiosity. "What didn't I notice?"

"… That he was holding back."

Kagome nearly froze in her tracks after hearing that. Sure she beat the psycho but it was more out of luck. If she weren't able to blind him it would have been bad. The worst thing is that if he hadn't warned her to release her zanpakuto then she never would have had time to do it. Not to mention the sinking feeling she had that if she had gotten closer to him after she blinded him that he would have somehow been able to strike back. She just felt that he would be able to by the way he was standing and seemed to be looking at her even though she knew he couldn't see.

It was then that she had a revelation, and it caused her to pale and nearly forget how to breathe. Her reaction was of fear from the possibility that there was someone _that_ powerful. What she realized was that when Zaraki slashed at her, he would hold back. How much he held back she couldn't tell, but he defiantly held back. His swings were far slower than when he moved to block. His strikes were incredibly weaker then when he would just hit the ground to scare her.

"I see you figure it out." Toshiro's whisper shook her out of her stupor. "The reason I told you this is because every captain that watched and a few lieutenants all realized this as well. I don't want you to get cocky because you think you can beat a captain. Got it?"

"Y-yeah."

The rest of the walk was continued on in silence, the two lieutenants never hearing the conversation. They eventually reached the now familiar meeting hall. All the normal, minus Zaraki and Yachiru, were there. Kagome once again stopped just between the rows of people and the door.

"Kagome Higurashi." The old guy said. "Before this starts, do you have anything you wish to say?"

"I think that you all must all have a lot of free time if you're always free to come to these meetings." She answered, obviously trying to annoy the commander, the other captains were just a bonus. She got glares from all the captains besides Toshiro, who didn't take offence, Unohana, who didn't seem to notice and just smiled, and Byakuya, who just ignored it.

"Things have been going slowly lately ever since the battle in the living world." The Captain Commander said. "Speaking of which, I have found a position there for you. I know you don't like it here so I figured you should just be in the field."

"_He wants me away so that I don't fry anyone else."_ Kagome said to herself, easily seeing through his ploy. "I glad to hear that." She said out loud. "Perhaps you could tell me what it is so that I may leave as soon as possible."

"Very well, but I will have you know that I think it would be best if you were able to easily communicate with our other operatives in the same area. I believe you already know Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki." Kagome quirked an eyebrow but otherwise didn't react. "That way I think is best for this is if you were temporarily enrolled in the same high school they are attending."

Kagome could only stare at the long bearded man with wide eyes, were jaw hanging loosely. "You want me to go back to high school?" She asked in obvious disbelief. "How the hell did you come to that conclusion?"

Most others present stiffened at her choice of words. The dog-like captain glared at her, taking it as an insult to the man who had raised him, but before he could say anything, Yamamoto.

"That is exactly what I have decided." He said, seemingly ignoring the uncomfortable situation. "You will leave immediately and you are already enrolled. You will also once again be escorted by a captain and one subordinate."

"_Why is the way he's talking reminding me of when mom used to scold me?"_ Kagome thought, already over her anger. _"Though I guess I should of seen that he wanted an escort again. Untrusting bastard."_ Then a question came to mind. "Will the two 'escorts' also be enrolled in the school?" She asked.

"Yes, they will."

"Then you're screwed." Kagome deadpanned. Before the commander could ask the obvious question she continued. "All the captains look like they're in their thirties or twenties except for Hitsugaya who looks twelve and Komamura who's a dog. There's no way they can fit in with a high school setting."

For those that knew Kagome was a friend of Toshiro, they were curious as to why she called him by his surname. For Komamura he just growled at the woman. For the rest a look of understanding could be seen.

"She has a point, Yama-jii." Shunsui said.

"The only one that I can see that could possibly pass for a high school student is her." Kagome said, pointing to the only other female captain besides Unohana.

Said captain was obviously surprised, but that suddenly turned to anger. "Why would I go to the living world just to baby-sit you?" She said, glaring at Kagome.

"And her 'don't take shit from anybody' attitude would fit in perfectly." Kagome said, not even missing a beat. That alone surprised most present.

"Very well then." The old man said. "Second Squad Captain, Soifon will be the captain escort for Kagome. Who would you like to pick as the other?" He finished and looked at the captain.

"Following the strange tradition that seemed to have arisen, I would like to take a lieutenant." She answered, looking at Kagome from the corner of her eyes. Not many people ever talked like that to her and only one has ever gotten away with it.

With a sigh, Kagome spoke up again. "Once again, this being a high school some of the lieutenants obviously wouldn't work. From a glace those seem to be the guy with scars, the fat ass, the guy with sunglasses, and the french guy." She said, pointing in turn to Hisagi, Omaeda, Iba, and Sasakibi.

"_Thank you I don't have to take Omaeda. And even better he didn't go on a rant from the insult."_ Soifon thought happily, she even let a small smile grace her lips, but it quickly disappeared.

"Then based off that list, who do you wish to take, Soifon?" Asked the Captain Commander, again, ignoring the uncomfortable presence of Kagome being glared at by Omaeda and Sasakibi.

Soifon quickly thought it over. _"That narrowed it down quite a lot. Let's see… Kira is to attach to running his squad to leave. Abarai is just as loud as Omaeda and Rangiku is twice as lazy. Isane still has to deal with the injured from the battle with the hollows along with Zaraki. I take Nanao and her Captain would get drunk and destroy everything. If I took either of Ukitake's 'followers' then all they will do is complain. And Nemu won't leave her captain even if it's an order. That only leaves one person…"_

"Hinamori." Soifon said, surprising most present, including the girl herself.

* * *

"Huh?" A man muttered to himself, looking up from his paperwork. The man was sitting behind a desk in an area that can only be described as a study. There was one door opposite of the desk. Behind the desk was a wall that was entirely blank other than a tall, thin window that showed the crescent moon of the night sky.

The other two walls on either side of the desk were taken up by large bookshelves filled with volumes of all sizes and colors.

"Is something wrong, Aizen-sama?" Asked the only other person in the room besides the man at the desk. It was a young woman who was standing next to the door, seemingly guarding it. She had short blond hair and was dressed in all white clothes with black trim. Her one visible, left eye was green. Over her right eye and around her neck were parts of a mask that signified her as a hollow.

"No, nothing Menoly, nothing is wrong." Replied the man in a soothing voice, looking back down to whatever he was reading. "I just thought I heard something."

A moment of silence passed before footsteps could be heard from the hallway beyond the door. Soon thereafter the door opened and another woman came through. She was also young with back hair tied in two ponytails. She also had a white outfit with black trim along with high boots. Only her right I was visible as her left was covered in a part of a hollow mask.

"Aizen-sama, the remaining two arrancars have said that they remember all that they could." Said the new arrival, stopping just inside of the room.

"Two?" Asked the blond woman. "I though there were three."

"There were, but one got on _Yammy's _bad side, so he killed him." The black haired woman spat out the name with audible venom.

"Very well then." Said the man behind the desk, gaining the attention of the others in the room. He sat up straight, seeming to be done with what he was writing. He took off his rectangular glasses and slicked his brown hair back where all but a strand that hung down in front of his face seemed to stick like he used gel. "What did they say, Loly?" He continued, looking at the black haired woman with a small yet kind smile.

The woman, now know as Loly, was able to fight back her blush from being under his gaze. "The remaining two, along with the other one before he was killed, all said the same thing from the attack. There were only a couple dozen of shinigami, including three captains and four lieutenants, trapped inside of Tosen-sama's barrier. With the overwhelming numbers of hollows, arrancars and menos coming out of very large _garganta_, it seemed there would be no problem winning. They then said that the whole battle stopped when a very bright pink light came from the _garganta_ and it disappeared. The battle went down hill from there. Only a handful of hollows and the three, now two, arrancars were able to make it out alive."

She finished recalling the reports of the battle that was fought a couple weeks prior.

The man seemed to think it over but his smile did not fade. "This does not affect my plans. Have the arrancars I have spoken of before get ready to go to the living world in two weeks to bring back the target."

"If I may ask, Aizen-sama." Said the Menoly. "Since we are the ones you said will guard this person, who is the target?" If you looked closely, you could see that Aizen's smile widened slightly.

"A human by the name Inoue Orihime."


	16. Photo

**AN:** This is just a really short chapter that I thought up a while ago but never really figured how to write it. It may be good, it may not be. Either way, enjoy.

* * *

**Photo**

"I got some new ones." Said a boy of the age of twelve. He had short black hair and deep brown eyes. He wore simple clothes and a light jacket over them. "I know you like tulips so I got some." He said, placing a small bouquet of yellow flowers on a grave.

It was one of many graves in the field where he stood. It was a graveyard after all. The grave in front of him was a simple one. Nothing about it stood out, yet it was enough.

They never had a body to bury under it.

The boy tried not to focus on the name. He knew that if he did, he would cry. He would then look at the statement under it and cry harder.

He didn't want that.

He knew the person that shouldn't have their name written there.

He always said hello when he saw the person who was far too young to have their name written on such a stone.

He would run to the person and jump into a hug without a thought.

He trusted the person.

He cared for the person.

He loved the person.

He would call to the person on sight and say 'Hey sis.'

He would never think that person would end up like this.

He would never think that the one this person fell in love with and trusted would let this stone with her name on it.

And now it was Sunday. And just like every Sunday he would come here.

He would buy some flowers.

He would stand in front of the stone with a simple name, date, and statement.

He would try not to cry, knowing the person wouldn't want him to cry.

The person who was not here and shouldn't have to have their name on this stone would never want to see him sad.

She would do anything for him.

She would try to keep him happy so he would not shed a tear.

She would always be there for him so he wouldn't be depressed.

But she was not there now. Not even under the stone, which held her name, did she lay.

She was not there to keep him happy.

She was not there to help him hide his tears.

She was not there to play the part of the older sister like she always did, like she still should.

All that was left of the woman that held him together, was this stone.

All that was left of the woman that kept him happy was right in front of him.

All that was left of the woman who loved him, their mother, their grandfather, the friends she had, and the one that she once held closer than all the others, was this grave.

No

That's not true

There was one other thing that was left.

And the boy had it.

The boy in front of her grave had it.

And he would never let it go.

Just like he had done countless times since he found it, he took out his present.

The same present he got on his birthday.

The same present that was put in his room, on his dresser, by an unseen force.

His mother had not placed it there.

Neither had his grandfather.

Neither of them knew it existed.

Neither of them wanted it to exist, but they let it stay.

It was a case, about the size of a deck of cards. It was polished black with a golden rim.

The boy held the case in his hands as he stood in front of the grave of the one who got it for him.

The case opened like a book and the boy starred at its contents.

It was two small, polished black frames, held together by a golden hinge. Each frame held a photo.

The boy stared at the photo on the left. It was a recent one. It contained two smiling people.

One was him, the boy who looked at the photo.

One was her, the one whose name shouldn't be on the stone.

The one on the right was older. It held five people.

A six year old girl in a pink dress smiling and holding the hand of the older woman.

A two year old boy wrapped in a bundle and asleep, being held by the same woman.

A man older then the others in a picture in the very back standing and smiling.

A younger man smiling as well. He had one hand waving at the camera and the other around the woman who held the boy to her chest and the girl's hand with her own.

The five stood in front of a large tree, a tree he saw every time he left the house.

It was a photo few had seen. The boy at the grave held the case with the two photos in silence before he began to sob.

The photo on the right was that of his family, his complete family.

The boy was him, the woman was his mother, the old man was his grandfather, the girl was his sister, and the younger man was his father.

He never knew his father. Shortly after this picture was taken, he died in a car crash.

The boy looked away from the photo and to another stone, another grave. It was next to the one he was in front of now. He did not focus on the name for he knew he would cry.

She wouldn't want him to cry.

He did not read the name but he knew who was buried there, it was the man in the photo.

It was his father.

When his father had died, the photo that is now in the case the boy held was the only photo of him.

His mother did not want the photo for it brought her sadness, more then she could stand.

She thought she got rid of the photo, but it was still there, his sister had found it.

He looked back at the photo that was the last present from his sister who was not here.

He had finally learned what his father had looked like, what _their_ father had looked like.

At the cost of her life.

He snapped the case closed and his fingers closed around it, causing his knuckles to go white.

He held his grip as he lowered his hand to his side. His sobs had stopped, he wouldn't cry.

His body seemed to move on its own, as it did what he didn't want it to do.

It focused on the stone.

It focused on the statement.

It focused on the date.

It focused on the name.

Its focus was lost, as it couldn't see.

It couldn't see thought the tears.

The boy fell to his knees as he saw the name, but he kept his tight hold on the last thing she gave him.

The boy turned towards the sky, eyes shut tight as the tears fell.

The boy cried loudly as his mouth hung open.

She would not want him to cry.

She would be sad if he cried.

She would do anything to keep him from crying.

But she was not here.

She was not here to hug him when he needed support.

She was not here to kiss him when he needed care.

She was not here to keep him happy when he cried.

So he cried

And cried

And cried

Someone would be sad if they saw him cry.

She would be sad and try and make it better.

She would always make it better.

But now she couldn't.

All that was left of her was the case the boy held, and the stone the boy cried to.

Kagome Higurashi

1992-2009

_A Daughter anyone would love  
A Sister anyone would care for  
A Friend to anyone who needed it  
A Woman who will always be in our hearts  
A Girl we will remember_

She was gone, but the boy would never forget the statement that was on the stone.

He would always remember her.

He would always have her in his heart.

He would always be a friend for her.

He would always care for her.

He was her brother, he would always love her.

The sobs the boy gave were so loud that he didn't hear someone come up behind him. For this reason he nearly jumped away when someone put their hand on his shoulder.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Came the person's voice.

"No, grandpa. It's ok." Said the boy.

"This is going to sound harsh but I have to say it." Said the new arrival to his grandson. "You should really stop coming here."

The boy's head snapped up, but before he could studder out a response, his grandpa continued. "I know you love your sister but every time you come back here you only remember the bad memories."

The boy was silent as he took the words in, his tears stopping. He lifted up the case in his hand and starred at it blankly.

The older man saw this. "Your mother had the same problem when your father died." The boy stiffened but his grandfather continued. "She wasn't there when he died so she thinks it is somehow her fault that he is no longer here."

"But I don't think that!" The boy protested, turning to the man who still stood behind him.

"If you don't now you soon will." The man said. It was then that the boy saw he was not looking at him. He was looking at the stone. A single tear slid down his wrinkled cheek. "That is how the human mind works, you will eventually blame yourself. I know I already have." He finished in a quieter tone; thought the kneeling boy still heard him.

The boy looked back at the stone that the man also stared at. His young tear stained face having more tears slowly roll down it, much like his grandfather behind him.

They both cried

Even if _she_ wouldn't want them too

They cried

"Your mother had it worse then you do now." The older man continued when the child hadn't spoken up, not being able to think of anything to say. "She was so torn by the death of your father that she was soon unable to look at that picture, the only picture of him. She got rid of it, but your sister somehow found it."

Their tears had slowed as the man spoke until they were no more. They both stared at the grave in silence.

"It gets worse." The older man suddenly said. "It is to late for me as I already blame myself for it. I was able to comfort your mother so she will not believe it is her fault. But, for you, you must not blame yourself either. If you do it will soon turn to anger and you will blame others. You must not let that happen."

The boy absorbed all this. Somewhere in the back of his mind there was someone he blamed for all of this. He blamed the one who his sister had trusted her life with and loved. He blamed that dammed _demon_.

"You do not want to dishonor your sister's memory by chasing after someone, do you?" The elderly man said in a harsh tone. He had to get through to this boy. The boy gulped, barely noticing the man's sigh as he switched to a kinder voice. "Remember the good times you had with her. The pain will never go away, nor will you ever forget it… but… if you stay as you are now, you will only remember anger; never the happiness she always showed you."

The boy looked at the flowers he had placed on the grave as they danced in the light breeze. He slowly stood up and made one last silent prayer to his sister.

"_I know what grandpa says is right. You would want me stay happy and not cry no matter what, right?"_ He then opened his eyes and stared at the stone again, only to have his vision blurred by tears. _"I will come back here when I'm strong enough to not cry. You wouldn't want me to cry."_

With that the boy turned around and slowly walked away. After a moment, his grandfather followed.

"_I'll bring some more tulips next time."_ The boy thought, with out stopping his stride. He looked back over his shoulder at the bouquet of yellow flowers. _"I know you like them."_

A small, yet still sad smile graced his lips as he turned back ahead and continued to walk away.


	17. Emotion

**Emotion**

"More tea?"

"Yes please."

Hinamori held up her cup for the large man to pour her some more of his homemade tea. Steam rose as she brought the cup to her lips, followed by a large smile and a content sigh. "This is so good." Hinamori said. "Please, tell me your secret, Tessai-san."

"Yes, please." Added Kagome, finishing her own cup of tea before she placed it on the small table they were at. "I don't even like tea that much but I love this stuff."

"My apologies, but it is a secret." A large man, known as Tessai, said. He was very tall with dark skin. He wore a simple white shirt and brown pants with a blue apron, his eyes were covered in a small pair of glasses that seemed to always reflect the light so you couldn't see through them. He was incredibly well built and had a very large mustache. His black hair was pulled behind his head in a small braid. The two girls pouted at what he said but otherwise remained silent.

"Oi! Tessai! Why do we have to fix this?" Came a voice from elsewhere in the building.

"J-Jinta, you shouldn't question it, you'll get in trouble." Came another, obviously feminine voice, quietly.

"Be quite, Ururu!" Yelled the first. "This is owner's fault and you know it. I don't know what he did to piss off the woman but whatever it was, I will not be the one to clean up his mess."

The argument continued between the two unseen people. Tessai set his teapot down on the table and stood up. "My apologies, this will only take a moment." With that, he walked out of the room and turned a corner. There was an audible 'thwack' followed by the stopping of the argument.

"I-I told you." Said the feminine voice. The only sound as Tessai walked back into the room was a low grumbling from the other room.

"My apologies, he complains about everything." Tessai said.

"Well it is a pretty big hole." Kagome said as she watched the man refill her cup with tea. "I'm surprised they knew each other and that Soifon could be that fast."

"Well she is the captain of the Squad Two, also known as Stealth Force." Said Momo Hinamori in a small voice.

Kagome accepted that until she remembered something. "But isn't her lieutenant that fat ass that was at the meeting?"

"Marechiyo Omaeda is part of a very rich family, that is how he got the position. Despite this he is a very qualified for the title." Momo said in the same small voice.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Kagome said, more to herself.

"Meow." They all turned to see a black cat walking into the room.

"Hey there." Kagome said in a kind voice. "Here kitty." She said, patting the ground and making kissing sounds.

The cat walked over to her and purred quietly when Kagome began to stroke its short fur. The three remained quite as they finished their tea. The silence was interrupted by the sound of a door sliding open followed by a snapping sound and a crash.

"Dammit, see what you did?" They could here one of the people, known a Jinta, say in the other room. "First you punch him through the wall and now the door is broken too.

"The door fell because I damaged it when I punched the bastard, not from when I opened it just now." Came a voice easily recognized as Soifon. There were more complaints from the unseen Jinta but the captain remained silent.

Soifon then walked into the room occupied by the three drinking tea and the purring cat. The captain sat down at the table and let out an aggravated sigh.

The captain punched the ground and cursed under her breath. "I hate that man." She muttered.

"What did he do for you to hate him so much?" Kagome asked as she continued to pet the cat that was now lying on the ground next to her. "He seemed like a nice enough guy from the two seconds I got to talk to him before you punched him through the wall." She said, remembering the encounter.

The three women had made it out of Soul Society with few other arguments and through the gateway. Momo was nervous but Soifon seemed indifferent. They had arrived in the living world and began looking for Ichigo. They found him less then an hour after arriving. The boy was still keeping up his jackass tendencies towards Kagome. Because of this, they didn't bother to stay with each other for very long. He took them to a place to get a gigai (Faux Body). It was a small shop in the middle of the city.

It was in a sandy lot and was only one story tall. Two children were outside sweeping. One was a boy with red hair gelled up into three spikes. He wore a white tee shirt and blue jeans that were rolled up to be shorts. The other was a girl with long black hair held up in two pigtails. She had a sad expression and a permanent blush. She wore a white shirt with kanji on the front and a pink skirt with white poka-dots.

As soon as they arrived Ichigo said to ask for the owner and left to do whatever it is that he does. They walked past the kids while ignoring their argument. When inside they met the man they now knew as Tessai in a room that seemed to be like any other shop.

As soon as the man saw the visitors, he walked to a hallway and called for the owner. A man came out of the hallway. He had on a black coat that was open to show his dark green shit and green pants. He had on a green and white stripped hat that shadowed all of his face except his mouth. Messy blond hair came out form around the edges of the hat.

He put on a pair of sandals. He led began to lead them down another hallway when he said, "We have all you will need, here at Urahara's."

Once he said that, Soifon froze. She slowly turned to the man and a look of recognition passed over her face. A moment later her fist was firmly planted in the man's face, resulting in him being thrown through the wall and part of the door.

Soifon yelled something at him before following him. After a few more punches, the man got the idea and ran away, quickly followed by Soifon.

That was three hours ago.

Now, after the captain had finally returned, she glared at Kagome before speaking. "He is the reason my old teacher left me." She then looked down, obviously depressed. "She was the person I always admired." She finished sadly.

"Did you kill him?" Kagome asked, slightly worried.

"No…" Soifon answered, almost reluctantly. "He got a away and I couldn't find him again."

"Well that's a relief." Came a masculine voice. At hearing this, Kagome and Momo practically jumped out of their skin while Soifon's eyes just widened. Tessai didn't seem to notice. The reason for all of these reactions was that the one that spoke was the_ cat_.

"What the hell is going on here?" Kagome screamed as she and Momo slowly backed away from the cat. Tessai hadn't moved at all but Soifon was finding it hard to breathe, though not out of fear.

"Y-Y-Yoruichi-sama?" The captain said uncertainly.

The cat sighed. "How many times have I told you not to be formal? Besides, you've seen me as a cat before."

"Y-Yoruichi… -san" Soifon said, she seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"What is with you today?" The cat, now known as Yoruichi, said. "You saw me like a month ago and you tried to kill me, now you see me and you go sneak off with Kisuke. I mean, everyone knows you love the man you don't have to be secretive about it."

Soifon immediately blushed a deep red. "W-who would l-love a man like that?" She yelled back. "He's a lazy and slothful! I-I would have been happy the day he left if he didn't take you too!"

"Aren't those the same insults you used all those years ago?" Yoruichi asked and seemed to smirk, despite being a cat. "Fine, Fine, I won't argue with you, Soi. But just remember, if you want to keep your love a secret than you have to come up with better excuses."

Soifon's blush deepened, causing Yoruichi to laugh.

The captain and cat shot arguments back and forth, the cat between laughs and Soifon between her stuttering while she blushed. Tessai continued to not notice while he sipped his tea.

Kagome remained cowered against the wall with Momo behind her. _"What have I gotten myself into?"_ They both thought.

* * *

"_Damn Soifon, damn Momo, damn creepy, rapist cat."_ These were Kagome's thoughts while she sat in the one thing she never expected to go back to,

High school,

The bane of her existence.

The day had passed like she thought it would beside a few key points.

One: When Ichigo came back to Urahara's, surprisingly not acting as big of a jackass as before, with their school uniforms, Soifon decided not to go. She said that she would stay around the school but she refused to get in a gigai just to go to school.

Two: Yoruichi decided to push poor Soifon over the edge. Unfortunately the captain wasn't the only one affected by this. What the cat did was tell Soifon that if she had Kisuke as a lover then she would get one of her own. Before Soifon could yell at her, the cat tackled Ichigo.

Now this wouldn't be a problem but it turned out the cat was actually a person who could turn into a cat. Even this wouldn't be a problem but that person was actually female. This is a slight problem but what made it worse was that she could not wear clothes when she turns back.

So we have Ichigo freaking out and flailing his arms, sending the uniforms he was still holding around the room, while he lay on the floor with a naked, and still purring Yoruichi on top of him.

It really did look like Yoruichi would of raped him but during his spazzing he hit his head and lost consciousness. I don't know if she really was trying to rape him or not. Soifon seemed to know, but she didn't want to say…

There: Momo is a very strange person. Somehow during Yoruichi's 'joke' on Ichigo, she had also lost consciousness for unknown reasons.

Four: Kagome is in the same class as four people, including Ichigo, who had at one point infiltrated Soul Society and were almost killed on multiple occasions. In the end they managed to save their friend Rukia, who is also in this class, and be there for when three captains went rouge.

Five: Her teacher was crazy. Right after she entered the room the psychopath of a woman didn't believe her when she said that the other two people who were supposed to enroll with her wouldn't come, one of them refusing too and the other in a possible coma. So she then somehow decided that her name wasn't Kagome but was actually a combination of the three names. She then spent the next forty minutes combining the names in various ways believing that she would eventually get the 'right' name.

Six: Ichigo's friends are very protective of him and almost attacked her when she said the orange haired boy was unconscious at the shop with one of her 'guards'. But when she explained that it was Yoruichi who did it, they instantly calmed and seemed to forget about it.

A very strange day indeed.

We now find Kagome under a tree during the lunch hour. She had no lunch so she simply lay there, seeming to be asleep. Many other girls were sitting around the area in various sized groups eating and talking. Most of the guys were either at on the bleachers of the nearby baseball field or on the roof.

If one were to look carefully, and have the ability too, they would see the captain of Squad Two standing on top of the flagpole, watching Kagome from the corner of her eye.

Despite that she would never admit it nor show it, Soifon was eternally grateful of Kagome. The strange woman had gotten her an undetermined length of time away from Soul Society and her possibly obese lieutenant. Not only that but she now knew where her long lost teacher and friend along with the bastard of a shinigami, Kisuke, were.

But, no matter how grateful she was of Kagome, no matter how much she respected Yamamoto as the captain commander, and no matter what Yoruichi says, she will _never_, _ever_ be caught in that horrible piece of clothing known as a school uniform.

The easiest way to do that would be to just not attend the school at all, orders be dammed.

The captain stood there, unknown to most, watching Kagome sleep under a tree. While the only school she remembered ever going to was the Shinigami School, she knew what it was like to be the new kid.

She was almost tempted to go down there and talk with her.

Almost.

But as was one of the most important rule that was always drilled into the head of every member of the Stealth Force since before she could remember.

Never get on a personal level with the prisoner.

Yamamoto may have never said it, nor would he ever, but that is what Kagome is. The Captain Commander does not trust her so she was to be restrained, guarded twenty-four, seven, and kept in an area where she could not cause any harm to Soul Society. Her guards were that of a captain and lieutenant. If she was able to get past them there is a substitute-shinigami of captain level, a lieutenant level shinigami on leave, an ex-captain, ex-kido corps member, and multiple powerful humans that can see her.

It was unknown to any of the three, it is still unknown to Hinamori and Kagome, but Soul Society had contacted Urahara prior to when they arrived. What they requested was a specially made gigai that will be impossible for anyone to get out of without a _gikon_ (Artificial Soul) and will drain the reiatsu of whoever is using it to a point where they could do very little, and then seal the rest of it.

The gigai was given to Kagome.

Urahara was given specific instructions to give the gigai to Kagome and only tell the captain present, but with Urahara not returning to his home, it was Tessai that told Soifon.

Kagome was a prisoner in every sense of the word, and Soifon was her guard. As with every guarding duty out there, the guard was required to sit still, be quiet, deal with it, and take down the prisoner if they should try to escape. In Soul Society, 'take down' consisted of killing them before they got too far.

That was Soifon's duty now, she knew she had to follow it, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

What really pissed her off was that Soul Society, or most likely Yamamoto, had sent the instructions to Urahara over a month ago. To be more precise, while Kagome was asleep from the battle in the field that surrounded the very school they were at now.

The bastard of a Captain Commander was planning on sending Kagome here since he heard what she could do from the reports of the battle. He was scared to have someone like that within the walls of Soul Society, so he sent her here.

She was a prisoner in every sense of the word. The gigai was her cell, the living world is her prison, and Soifon was her warden.

"Hey!" Came a voice but Soifon ignored it and tried to get back to her thoughts. "Hey! You, on the flag pole!" Came the voice again. With a loud sigh, Soifon turned to the voice.

"What do you want?" She called angrily to the person.

The person was one of the humans who were friends with Ichigo, Soifon couldn't remember the name, nor did she care. "How did you get up there?" He called again.

It was then that Soifon realized something; this may have been one of the humans who she saw hanging around Ichigo but he did not go to Soul Society with them. Though it took her a while to recognize that, she knew it was because unimportant people all look the same to her.

Not that she showed it, but she was surprised by the fact that there are more humans who can see spirits. "Why do you care?" She called back to the human. To anyone who knew her, along with most who didn't, it would be easy to tell that the captain wasn't in a good mood.

"Well it's not everyday that you see someone who can stand on a flag pole like that." The human replied rather sheepishly.

"And?" Yep, she was defiantly not in a good mood.

And, of course, the only person who was currently in danger of the captain did not notice this. "Could you tell be how you can just stand there without trying?"

"Practice." Soifon said, finally turning away and back to the unmoving Kagome.

"What kind of practice?"

"Can you just leave me alone?" She said rhetorically while gritting her teeth.

"Come on." The human whined like he was a little kid. He even had waterfall like tears falling from his eyes.

Wrong thing to do.

* * *

For Kagome, she was actually awake, her thoughts going in random directions so quickly she gave up keeping track of her thought process. She was currently musing on a way to scare her best friend and zanpakuto, Aokakesu.

Shortly after she had learned her name, Kagome had come up with her own little game of sorts. Kagome had always been good at finding out the nature of anybody and had gotten to a point where she could predict his or her emotions after only a few minutes of conversation. While slightly creepy, it was a very helpful insight she always had.

So, shortly after they had a few good talks, she was found out that the white-haired zanpakuto was the type of person to train herself to never show emotion. Much like a certain captain she had recently met.

And while there was a definite similarity between the two, Aokakesu was always less… gloomy.

Anyway, Kagome had quickly made her own personal objective that could almost be a game. Her goal was to get her zanpakuto to show some kind of emotion on a larger scale then what was the norm.

Kagome had tried happy, but that seemed to be the easiest emotion to hide. She had tried anger, which never resulted in more then an uncontrollable twitch and a stern glare. She even tried to embarrass her but never got anywhere with that.

The next logical step, in her mind, for Kagome to try, was to scare Aokakesu to a point where she at least yelped/screamed.

The problem was that she couldn't think of anything that scared the zanpakuto. She did have something that was more of a 'must not go near' attitude towards any tree that was over thirty feet tall from the result of a certain… unfortunate event. That was the closest thing to a phobia Kagome could think of though she never figured out if her zanpakuto thought like that out of fear or annoyance.

And, just like that her thoughts wandered off in another direction as she began to wonder if Aokakesu's 'fear' was the reason that there weren't any trees in her inner world.

Her musing was again turned in another direction as she went back to the anger she could feel. Much like her ability to figure out the mental nature of anybody she bothers too, Kagome is almost able to _feel_ the emotions of people without even looking at them.

Right now she could feel that someone was very angry. She could also tell that the person was Soifon. The captain's anger seemed to not be directed at anyone here but she was angry with someone. Suddenly, that anger became surprise for a moment before returning to anger.

It then slowly changed to annoyance, this being directed at someone the captain could see. The annoyance then reached the peak and Kagome predicted that the captain snapped.

She also predicted that the loud, very high-pitched scream that was easily heard all around and inside the school was the outcome of the captain's annoyance.

"Looks like Keigo managed to piss someone off… again."

Kagome opened her eyes at the voice but otherwise didn't move. She glanced at the person she assumed the voice came from.

"Hello, Kurosaki-san." She said in an emotionless voice as she gazed at the orange haired boy.

The two stared at each other in silence. It was a strange silence that neither of the two found awkward at all but the surrounding people were very uncomfortable by it.

It was then Kagome looked around the people who seemed to have walked over to her with Ichigo. There were four other people, two male, two female, surrounding the black-haired girl besides Ichigo.

One of them was a rather tall and looked too old to be in high school. He had messy dark brown hair the cast a shadow over his brown eyes. He had obvious Mexican descent and was very well built.

The other male was shorter than the first, skinnier, and less muscular. He had raven black hair that hung around his face in an almost feminine-like appearance. His blue eyes seemed to be put in a permanent glare as he looked through his glasses. While everyone in the small group, including Kagome, wore their school uniform, this boy also wore a tie.

The girl Kagome didn't know had shoulder-length burnt orange hair with two snowflake shaped hairpins. She didn't seem to know what to do with her hands as they moved from behind her back to in front of her, the back again. She even seemed to be uncertain of what emotion to show on her face as her smile wavered.

The last person Kagome knew. Rukia had the same hairstyle, expression, and over all appearance that she had the first time they had met, other than the outfit.

While Kagome had briefly met the others earlier that day, she only knew the names of Rukia and Ichigo. Normally she would have introduced herself to get their names, but not today. Not only was she in a bad mood for no known reason, Ichigo refused to have a simple conversation with her without being a jackass. While it was unknown to her if this was because it was his normal personality or otherwise, it didn't help her bad mood.

So, just for the fun of it, Kagome quickly decided to torment him in the best way she knew: embarrassment.

"So… did you regain consciousness before or after Yoruichi took away your virginity?"

Worked like a charm.

While Ichigo fell flat on his face, Rukia twitched slightly and blushed. The other female just blushed, though a deeper red then Rukia. The bespectacled male blushed just as badly as the second girl as a visible shiver went up his spine. The darker skinned man went ridged and may have blushed as well but it went unseen by those present.

"That's the first thing you say to me!" Ichigo yelled at Kagome after regaining from his face plant.

Kagome seemed unaffected by the glare and scream and answered with an even voice. "No, that was the third thing. The first being hello, and the second being your name." Kagome then paused for a moment and decided to throw oil on the fire, for the sole purpose of venting her anger when Ichigo's face plant reminded her a certain hanyou. "And considering how you didn't say anything the virginity that either means that you were a virgin or the devil-cat did take it from you… or maybe both."

Kagome noticed that the people surrounding her had deeper blushes and one was actually visible on the muscular man's face. While Ichigo tried to stutter out a response, the bell rang.

"Whops, sorry got to go." Kagome said, already on her feet before they noticed and out of speaking range before they finally thought of something to say.

"_Why is it I always have strange first meeting no matter who it is?"_ Kagome asked herself while her currently crazed mind already forgot that it was her fault for the strange encounter in the first place.

* * *

"Shippo! Where are you?"

Despite the cries, he kept running. He had been running for a while now and he would keep doing so.

We find the young kitsune running through a dense forest, the suns rays barely making it through the thick canopy. Because of his demon senses, no matter how young, he had managed to run without tripping over a root and possibly dropping the precious thing he held.

The Shikon Jewel.

That is what the child held as he ran from his friends… no, not all of them were his friends… not anymore.

He never wanted this, he never joined for this.

Kagome had joined because she promised Inuyasha.

Inuyasha joined to kill Naraku.

Miroku joined to kill Naraku.

Sango joined to kill Naraku.

He could care less as to why Kikyo joined but he told himself it was because she wanted to kill the spider too.

But he knew her reason was actually for Inuyasha.

That's what made him mad, she joined for Inuyasha, and the same reason Kagome joined the small group of friends.

The hanyou didn't deserve Kagome, nor did he deserve the Shikon Jewel if all he wanted was to become a full demon.

But why did Shippo join?

He wasn't after Naraku nor was it for Inuyasha.

He was unique.

He joined for Kagome.

When they first met, Shippo had tried to trick her and Inuyasha, but she forgave him.

When they fought the Thunder Brothers, Kagome had risked her life multiple times to help Shippo while Inuyasha was fighting the other one.

Inuyasha was always picking on him but Shippo began to see it as a brotherly thing, despite how much he wanted to deny it. Miroku had been one of the best friends that the child ever had and Sango had become the big sister he always wanted.

But Kagome was more. She did the things that a sibling would do but always went further. She acted like a friend always should but never stopped there. Shippo had lost his parents and that is what he saw in Kagome; he saw his mother.

He hated to say it but he barely remembered his parents now. Whenever he would try to think about them the first thing that would come to his mind is Kagome.

When he saw her die he cried like he never had before, he cried harder then when his real parents died. If he had to guess he would say that he was to young to realize what had happened, but now he was old enough to do so, and so he cried.

"SHIPPO!"

The next yell brought him out of his thoughts of the past. He then thought of the present.

Kagome was back, he didn't know how and he didn't care. He knew it was Kagome and he wanted her back, the others were not the same without her.

Inuyasha successfully hid his sorrow so well that it was possible that even he didn't know how to be sad about her death. All he cared about was Kikyo.

He was not his brother.

Sango had detached herself and only spent time looking after her little brother. Her _real_ little brother that they found tied back at the village with Kagura. He had his memories back along with the shard in his neck taken out.

She was not his sister.

Miroku's wind tunnel had started to crack dangerously so he stayed away from everyone else incase it suddenly burst. He was so secluded that he completely forgot about the friend of his father that could repair his cursed hand.

He was not his friend.

Shippo looked down at his hands as he continued to run in what he hoped was the right direction. In his small demonic hands he held the large, almost complete, Shikon Jewel along with six shards. Along with the two that Kagome had left them, they had found four more, as it seemed Naraku had believed that now that Kagome was dead that the small group didn't stand a chance. He was right of course but they were still able to take out the stronger demons that he gave a shard to.

After four more shards were exchanged, it seemed that the spider got the idea and stopped giving them to his lackeys.

Kikyo had been unable to combine the shards with the chunk of the jewel they had so it remained as it did.

Shippo was finally fed up with the group. It seemed that after Kagome died, coming back to life or not, none of them bothered to do anything besides find and try to kill Naraku. They didn't even care about Kikyo anymore.

So that is why Shippo was running, he didn't want to do with any of them. All he wanted was Kagome.

He had no idea how his tiny legs had lasted this long, let alone kept him ahead of Inuyasha and his nose. Shippo had been running through the forest for the at least an hour and was constantly hearing them shout to him but they never caught up to him.

He stopped thinking about that to go over what he planned to do.

He had no idea where Kagome was but something told him that she was in her time period. He couldn't describe the feeling; it's just something he felt. He knew from past experiences that that he couldn't pass through the well. Only a couple days ago did he realize that Kagome couldn't either unless she had the Shikon Jewel, or at least a shard of it.

He then came to the conclusion that he could do the same. He then decided to take the parts to the Shikon Jewel they had. Despite being disgusted by the fact that the others didn't care that Inuyasha gave the shards to Kikyo.

Her of all people, but he knew why. Inuyasha had never loved Kagome like he knew she loved him, he always loved Kikyo. So when the chance came and they needed another Priestess, he got her to join as soon as possible. The others just went along with it.

But not him, he never cared one way or the other about Naraku anyway. He wanted to help because his friends wanted him dead. But they weren't his friends anymore so he didn't care what they wanted now.

All he cared about was Kagome.

All he cared about was his mother.

He had to find her so he ran away to the place he _knew_ she was, taking with him the thing that he needed to get to her.

By taking it, he had betrayed his friends and taking away their chance for their useless ambitions. He didn't care, they weren't his friends anymore, and although it hurt him to do that to anyone, he would not lose his mother.

Not again.

The shouts of those behind him slowly disappeared, causing Shippo to once again wonder how they had not found him. He shook it off as he entered an all too familiar clearing.

He ran to the middle of the grassy circle with the sun almost directly overhead. He jumped on instinct and habit alone, landing on the edge of a very old well.

He stopped there. He knew that he had to hurry before they found him but he didn't know if it would even work. He looked down into the black abyss and the once again held out his hands to look at what he had of the jewel.

He stared at it for a few moments before closing his eyes and inclining his head to his now closed hands.

"Please." He said to himself as he clutched the broken stone, the shards cutting into his palms. "Those people back there are not the family I once knew and I don't think they will ever go back to being like that. Just let me through this well so that I may find my mother." And then silently continued, believing that no one else should here what is next, even though he couldn't see anyone else around. _"I lost my family once to the Thunder Brothers. Then I had another one, but now all that's left of it is Kagome. Please, I need her."_ He finished with tears in his eyes.

A moment later he opened his puffy, bloodshot eyes and was about to jump when he heard a growl. The young kitsune quickly spun around to see the being that had growled at him.

"Kirara…" He said quietly as he stared back at the large saber tooth, two-tailed cat. "What are you doing here?" He was answered with silence, as the other demon stood there, her red eyes seemed to dare him to move.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours until both of their demon enhanced ears picked up the sound of the others coming.

"_I guess that they had Kirara up front, no wonder they weren't bothering to follow too quickly."_ Shippo realized with overwhelming dread and he clutched the shards tighter, wincing slightly at the pain. _"Even if I jump now and make it then Inuyasha will know where I am and easily find me."_

"You heard what I just said, didn't you?" The kitsune said to the other demon. "I don't consider any of you my family anymore, and I _will_ find Kagome." He stood tall, blocking out his fear. "I don't care what you do to me, but I will not go back with them. I will find her." Tears were once again threatening to fall, but he held them back.

Kirara looked behind her where they knew the others would be coming from. She then looked back at the child on the well ledge. Kirara suddenly charged towards Shippo with a growl. Thinking the worst was to happen, the kitsune shut his eyes tight, waiting for the finishing blow.

It came, but not like he was expecting. He was expecting the force of the large cat would crush him. Instead, he felt a very light pressure on two spots on his chest. He opened his eyes to see that Kirara still tackled him, but in her smaller form. The now miniature sized demon pressed on his chest with her front paws and bit into Shippo's shirt, though it was more like she was trying to hold on rather then rip it.

It was then that Shippo realized that Kirara's tackle had pushed them over the edge of the well and they were falling in. Shippo once again tightened his grip on the pieces of the jewel he had as the two fell down into darkness.

Because he was facing up, Shippo couldn't see how close they were to the bottom; he could only see the sky above them. Suddenly everything seemed to slow down, as there was a blinding light and the two demons disappeared from the feudal era.

* * *

A light breeze blew through an endless field. This in itself was of no cause for alarm, yet the only occupant of this world was worried.

While there was only one person who could ever read her expression, that person could tell she was more worried then she'd ever been before.

Something was very, very wrong.

It was only a slight change that very few would notice but it was not supposed to happen.

The person looked at the cloudless sky with wide eyes. The sky was flashing between a bright blue and crimson red, this was supposed to happen. But something wasn't right.

It was very faint, but still there. Whenever the sky flashed back to crimson, it would get slightly lighter in color. While the blue remained the same, with the increasing tempo of the changing colors, the paling of the red was ever more obvious.

It was a very small change, but the person was worried nonetheless. "What is going on?" The person asked herself, with no one else around to hear. "This is not good."

As if on command, there was a bright flash, causing the woman to look away. When she looked back it was still disturbing. The sky was red, but no longer crimson, more like a dark pink.

She waited for it to turn back to blue as it had been doing. She waited… and waited… and waited.

It never came.

The sky remained red, but continued to pale in color, much like the woman's face. While she always hid her emotions, that didn't mean she didn't have them. This was one of her rare moments where she could not hide her emotion. Yes, emotion, a single emotion was all she felt.

Dread.

The red sky continued to pale until it was pure white. The woman was unsure if the process took hours or only a couple minutes, but she _knew_ it was not over. The same way she knew that whatever it was, it was not good.

A tense silence followed as she waited for what ever was going to happen to happen. The silence was broken by a strange, very loud sound, it sounded just like a rock cracking.

The woman yelped and fell down, landing in a sitting position. When she looked back up she had to blink several times to try and make the image go away, but it didn't.

The pure white sky had a large crack in it. There was no other way to describe it other than a crack. With another loud sound, another large crack appeared in the sky. There was another sound and crack, then another, and another.

The woman could only sit there and look in horror as cracks covered the entire sky one after another. They appeared in rapid succession, some small, others big, but never stopping.

Suddenly, the cracking sounds stopped, followed by the cracks themselves. The woman waited, unmoving, and stared at the sky.

Then there was another sound, but this one was different. It sounded like glass being shattered. With it, the whole sky shattered and the pieces fell to the ground, where they broke again.

The calm breeze instantly grew into a raging storm as the last of the sky fell. What was left was a large cloud. There were never clouds here, but now there was one. It stretched as far as the eye could see and was pitch black. Rumbling could be heard as flashes of light and streaks of lightning arced across the cloud.

The woman slowly stood back up, keeping her gaze on the cloud overhead. Directly above her, just below the cloud line, something was floating. She couldn't make out what it was, all she could tell was that it was small and glowed red.

A moment later, lightning shot out of the cloud and struck the small glowing light. An inhuman scream filled the area. The woman grabbed her chest in pain, but didn't cry out. The screaming continued, making it obvious that it came from the red light.

The scream continued and got louder. The louder it got, the worse was the woman's pain. Just as the scream and pain reached their peak, the small red light burst apart. The woman's knees buckled under her. She fell down, holding herself up with one hand and gripping her chest with the other. The pain was gone, but was replaced by emptiness, as if something was now missing.

The woman looked back up just in time to see the cloud to began to swirl, with where the red light had been as the center.

It swirled around like a hurricane, rumbles of thunder still being heard. The woman then felt something light on her had that was on the ground. She looked down to see that a browned blade of dead grass bent and lying on her hand. She stiffened as the tip of the blade of grass dissolved, as if it was on fire. The invisible flames continued down the rest of the stalk until it was no more.

She looked around to see that the rest of the grass in the field was also turning brown as it died. The blades of grass slowly fell over, one by one. Shortly after they fell they would dissolve as well.

The woman looked around frantically as the entire field dissolved right before her eyes until all the grass was gone, revealing the black, featureless ground. She stood back up but froze halfway.

She hesitantly looked down at her hands and screamed. If she bothered to stop and think she would have realized that that was the first time she had screamed, ever. But right now she couldn't think, she couldn't move, she couldn't do anything other that stare at her hands and shake uncontrollably.

The tips of her fingers were slowly beginning to dissolve as well. Her fingers were getting shorter and shorter. Her attention was then drawn to a lock of her short white hair that was blown into her sight by the wind.

It was dissolving as well.

She then looked down at her kimono and began to breath rapidly. Holes were being dissolved through the dark blue fabric and her skin. She shakily placed what was left of her fingers through one of the holes and regretted it as it went right through.

With still shaky hands she reached up and touched her face to find a hole being dissolved into her cheek. Her vision began to crumble away as the dissolving hole reached her eyeball.

As her vision began to get eaten away, she reared her head up and showed the greatest amount of emotion she had ever shown.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"


	18. History

**AN:** Ok, I wanted to update by last weekend but school is just starting up, so it was a little to chaotic to finish the chapter. I will try and update every other weekend now, but no promises.

Also, this may get somewhat confusing at parts, but to clear a few things up, if everything is written in _italics_ then that means that it's a flashback.

Lastly, I've finally decided on a couple, but it will not happen right away and it may take a few chapters for it to fully come out and even then it will be a while before anything serious happens. It's also one that I think will surprise you, but feel free to guess.

So, without further adieu, enjoy.

**

* * *

History**

_Sitting in a clearing filled with flowers were two people. The older one was a woman with long black hair. She had on a long red skirt and armor covering her stomach, chest and shoulders. On her forehead were four diamond shaped marks that made a cross. She had a long sword attached to her back._

_The other was a boy, no older than ten. His hair was also black but much shorter. He wore nothing that would be used in battle, just a simple shirt and pants._

_While the younger one was running around chasing a butterfly, the woman was just sitting there, laughing at the boy. Then was a sudden rustling sound in one of the surrounding bushes. Before the boy could even blink, the woman had covered the distance between them and was using her left arm to keep the boy behind her. He sword was already drawn._

"_Who's there?" She yelled at where the sound came from._

"_Onee-san?" Asked the boy, not moving from behind his sister._

"_Just wait here, Jiro." Said the woman as she slowly moved towards the bushes._

_There was more rustling before a small figure started to emerge. The woman tensed and tightened her grip on her sword. Finally, the figure came out of the bushes, showing a small, golden furred cat. The woman, for a moment, was actually about to rush over to it, but upon seeing that it had two tails, froze in her advance._

"_Demon." She said to the cat. "What do you want?"_

_The small demon just weakly looked up at the woman. It was breathing hard and one of its eyes was partially closed and beginning to blacken. Realizing it wasn't welcome, the demon slowly turned around and began to leave. It limped horribly, leaving spots of blood on the grass._

_Just before it made it to the bushes, it gave a weak cough and collapsed, falling into unconsciousness._

_The woman was having a mental about what to do. It was her job, as it always had been to kill all demons. Now there was a demon, unconscious and already injured. While she couldn't see its injuries before they were blatantly obvious now._

_The small, golden furred cat was covered in cuts. It had so many on its stomach that it was surprising that its organs hadn't fallen out yet. Its left eye had blackened completely now and was swelling horribly. Its front, right leg was bent at an odd angle that was painful just to look at. The longer hair the made a mane around the demon's shoulders and neck was coated in blood, seeming to have come from a slash across its throat._

_She had never spared any demon before. Then again, she never found one that was already injured. She looked back at her brother who had not moved from his spot. The boy was looking at the unconscious cat with a mixture of confusion and fear. Though it seemed he was more afraid of what his sister was going to do the demon itself._

"_Midoriko-sama?" Came a call from the forest._

"_Over here." The woman yelled, looking back at the cat._

_Moments later a man emerged from the trees. He had on similar armor as the woman and appeared around the same age. He also had a sword, but his was strapped to his waist. "Midoriko-sama." The man said. "We need to keep moving, a large number of demons is approaching."_

_The newly named Midoriko did not look up from the cat at her feet. "Jiro."_

"_Hai, Onee-san." The boy behind her said._

"_Go get some bandages from my bag."_

"_Hai." With that, the boy ran to a large leather bag that was sitting on the edge of the clearing. He opened and began looking through its contents._

"_Hisoka." The woman said._

"_H-Hai, Midoriko-sama?" The man in armor said, baffled by what was going on._

"_Go get a piece of wood to use as a splint."_

"_Hai." Hisoka said before returning to the woods._

"_Are we going to keep it?" Asked Jiro, returning with a roll of bandages and stopping beside his older sister,_

"_Yes, we are." Midoriko said, taking the bandages and beginning to wrap them around the cat's stomach. "People have befriended demons before, history always repeats itself."_

"_What should we call it?" Asked Jiro._

"_How about…" She thought over it as she continued to wrap the bandages. "… Kirara."_

* * *

"May I have your attention please."

All heads turned to the one who spoke, Yamamoto. There is yet another meeting with all captains and lieutenants available present. Even Zaraki is there even though he was just released by Squad Four, he looked no different then he ever had.

Seeing that he everyone was listening, the captain-commander continued. "I would like to inform you all that miss Kagome Higurashi will not be returning to Soul Society." There were a few quiet gasps, most people either showing surprise or no emotion at all. "Due to recent events, I have decided that it would be best to allow her to stay in the living world for as long as she wishes."

"What about captain Soifon?" Asked Omaeda.

"And Hinamori?" Continued Toshiro.

"It has been undecided for how long they will stay there as well but during this time, Lieutenant Marechiyo Omaeda will take over for his captain, and the third seat of Squad Five for his squad." Yamamoto then looked around the room before speaking again. "I know that some of you have befriended miss Kagome, but you have no need to worry about her safety. Dismissed."

* * *

We find Kagome walking down the street with Rukia next to her. The first school day had ended uneventful and Rukia was showing her back to Urahara's.

"I really don't know how you can stand him." Kagome said in obvious annoyance.

"He's really not that bad of a guy when you get to know him." Replied Rukia in a quieter voice then usual.

"Who's not that bad of a guy?" Came a voice, the two stopped and looked to see Soifon on top of a streetlight behind them,

"Captain Soifon!" Rukia's surprise was easily heard.

"We were talking about Ichigo." Kagome said, answering the captain's question. "I don't know why he hates me."

"Probably the same reason Yamamoto hates you."

"… I guess that makes sense." Kagome said as Soifon jumped down beside them and they continued their walk.

Rukia decided not to question why the captain was here or what she meant about the captain-commander. The three walked in silence until Kagome seemed to trip over her own feet and almost fell, but was able to catch herself before meeting the pavement.

"Are you ok?" Rukia asked worriedly.

"Yeah, just not used to being in a gigai." She said as she tried to walk straight. At hearing this, Soifon looked away from the others and remained silent, hiding the shame that was obvious on her face, knowing why the gigai was different.

Neither of them noticed the captain's movements and continued talking. "That's weird, you shouldn't feel any different then from when you're not in a gigai."

"Well, I do." Kagome said, but before she could say anymore, froze mid-step.

"You ok?" Asked Rukia as the other two stopped as well and looked at the woman. "Kagome?" She still got no reply as Kagome simply looked wide-eyed at nothing in particular. "What's wrong? Can you hear me?"

By now, Soifon was also worried, though she didn't show it. But even with her amazing control of her emotions, she couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her lips. "Something's wrong." Was all the captain said.

Rukia looked at her confused, then looked back at Kagome and gasped as well. The woman had not moved from her spot in anyway, the reason for the two official shinigami's worries were because a small trail of blood could be seen coming from Kagome's still lips.

"Gigai can't bleed!" Rukia exclaimed.

Neither of them knew what to do. A gigai was common tool used by shinigami and it was impossible for them to bleed. But, here was one bleeding. Add to that that said bleeding person seemed to be frozen in place, and you have two very dumbfounded and worried people.

Kagome's hand crept up slowly and gripped her chest where her heart was. She seemed to be gripping her chest to the point where it would hurt, but she didn't seem to notice. No words were said as her breath became labored and she began to shake uncontrollably.

"_What is this feeling?"_ Kagome thought, unable to move her lips to say it out loud. _"I feel… empty… like something is missing. And I swear I just heard someone scream… but it didn't sound human."_

Suddenly, Kagome's snapped up and her eyes became even wider as she turned to look to the side as if seeing something in the distance. The shaking had stopped but she still gripped her chest. Her grip even seemed to tighten as a new type of pain over took her.

"He found me…" Kagome said in a small voice, her eyes only showing sadness.

"Who found you?" Soifon said, her voice slightly hysteric.

The captain was ignored as Kagome continued to talk to herself. "How could he find me? How did he even know to look in this time?" Though her voice was slightly louder, neither of the other two women could understand what she meant.

Just before they could ask, a shrill ringing sound coming from Rukia's phone. Out of habit, she took it out and flipped it open. She looked at the screen for all of two seconds before gasping and gritting her teeth.

"What's wrong?" Soifon asked, not sure if she wanted to know.

"Hollows. A lot of them." Rukia replied, not looking away from the phone screen. "They're all low level but the amount of them is the problem."

"Where are they?" The captain asked.

"That way." The two looked to see Kagome pointing in the direction she was looking in. "The idiot dog brought the jewel. Its probably attracting hollows better then anything else could from the reiatsu it's giving off." She did not say anymore as she continued to look into the distance. While her eyes still held the sadness from before, they were mostly filled with anger and hatred.

Soifon quickly went over the numerous conversations she had about what Kagome had told Shunsui and tried to figure out what she meant now. She then remembered that Kagome had a crush on a dog demon that never returned her feelings and that he was the only one who could pass through the well she had heard about and come to this time. The captain then remembered what she had heard about some jewel that had been a large problem. She couldn't remember the name of the demon or the jewel, she knew this was, again, because they didn't seem important enough to her.

Rukia, to confused and unknowledgeable about Kagome's past, ignored the last part of what she said and glanced down at the phone again before replying. "She's right." She said in confusion and surprise. "They're far away but they're coming closer."

Kagome took in a large intake of air before speaking again, showing her breathing was still labored. "With that damn nose of his, he'll find me no problem. He probably hasn't even realized what's behind him." She finished, gasping for breath.

Rukia once again ignored this and snapped her phone shut before replacing it back in her pocket. "I'll go warn Ichigo and the others."

She was about to leave when Kagome stopped her. "Wait." Rukia stopped and turned back to the captain with a confused look. "How do I get out of this thing?." She panted out, her breath still labored.

Soifon cursed under her breath as she realized that she didn't have any gikon on her. "We have to go Urahara." She was so worried about the woman next to her that she didn't even feel the normal anger that came with the mention of the blonde's name.

Kagome took one step forward before gasping and falling, only to be caught by Soifon.

Rukia then spoke up. "Something's wrong with the gigai, we got to get her out of it."

Before Soifon could protest, not that she would, Rukia already had a red fingerless glove on her right hand. She thrust her gloved hand straight through Kagome. When it came out the other side of the woman, it was holding another Kagome, completely garbed in her shinigami clothes. The gigai fell lifelessly to the ground as Rukia pulled her gloved hand out of it and nodding to the captain before wordlessly turning around and rushing off to find the others.

"We have to go." Said Soifon, picking up the empty gigai, blood still dripping from its mouth. Kagome weakly nodded and took a step forward before she stumbled again, her breathing still labored. Soifon cursed under her breath as she caught Kagome before she met the pavement. While she had to take the gigai back to Urahara's, she couldn't carry both the gigai and Kagome, and there was no way she was putting the poor girl back in the fake body. She also couldn't leave the gigai here for someone to find and she didn't have enough time to come back after words. Making a quick decision, she threw the gigai on the ground and pointed her right index finger at it. **"Hado 4: Byakurai (Way of Destruction 4: Pale Lightning)!"**

A beam of energy shot from her extended finger, incinerating the gigai, leaving only a pile of ash. Picking up the still panting Kagome, the captain shunpo'ed away.

No less then a minute after the street was cleared, did a shadow pass over the street. "Wait!" Came a young voice. The shadow stopped halfway across the street. "Down there!" The voice commanded.

A large, animal like figure landed, showing that it flying overhead was what caused the shadow. A smaller, slightly human figure jumped off the larger one's back and landed next to the large scorch marks on the ground. It sniffed at it before frowning and looking up at the larger figure.

"What do you think?" Asked the smaller one, being the voice that had spoken before. "Do you think it was her?"

The larger figure bent its neck and sniffed the ash. It then growled before nodding.

"We better hurry before more of those things catch up." The smaller figure said before jumping onto the back of the large one. The larger one nodded again before the bottom of its feet along with the tips of its two tails burst into orange flames. With a growl, it took off into the sky, following the scent of the ash to its owners.

The two remained silent after that and the smaller figure looked down as he slowly opened his small hand, wincing in pain. He looked at the blood-smeared, reflective pink surface of the almost complete sphere and four shards he held. His hand was mostly healed from gripping the shards too hard thanks to his demon blood, but it still hurt.

"_I will find you, Kaa-chan."_

* * *

"_Oh, so you're awake?"_

_The young cat demon's eyes fluttered open to see Midoriko sitting by a small campfire. The demon tried to move and run away but collapsed in pain as soon as it stood up. It then noticed that its injuries were wrapped in bandages._

"_You shouldn't move too much you'd just reopen your injuries." Said Midoriko, not moving from her spot. "Do you have a name young one?"_

_Debating on whether or not to answer, the demon decided to do so, it shook its head, slightly in pain._

"_Well, that's good, otherwise I'd just hate myself for naming something that already had a name." At seeing the creature's confused look, the woman continued. "We needed something to call you, I hope you don't mind that I gave you a name."_

_The demon's eyes widened, it never had a name. It was always customary for a demon to gain their name from their family after they reach the age of three. The demon's eyes widened more as it remember her family. She opened its mouth to speak but all that came out was a raspy breath. Midoriko smiled sadly at hearing the attempt._

"_While I don't know much about demon anatomy, I know enough to tell you why you survived having a slit throat." Midoriko said, looking back to the fire. "It turns out that your throat is different to that of a human in that your windpipe is right against your neck. In front of it are your vocal cords. So while the person didn't slash deep enough to kill you, they did make you unable to talk."_

_The demon looked down, thinking about what she just heard._

"_I'm also fairly certain I know what you were going to say." Continued Midoriko, here sad smile fading. "I found your family…" The woman trailed off, the demon looking at her expectantly. "… They weren't as lucky as you."_

_The demon's eyes widened once more before tears started to form, moments later they began falling over. The golden furred cat cried, the woman's fists tightening, she always hated her own kind. Humans were sick creatures, they let fear rule their life. She had found what a group of humans had done to the demon's family… all eight of them._

_There were three older ones, two being brothers, the other one being the mate of one of the brothers. The other five that were in the clearing were the kits of the two mates_

_None of them had made it out._

_The crying demon that was now in front of her was the youngest of them, she had three sisters and two brothers._

_She had been the only one to make it out alive._

_Leaving eight corpses in the clearing._

_A group of a dozen or so villagers had attacked them, the only reason they gave was 'because they were demons'. Needless to say, Midoriko didn't agree with them and relived them of the need to breathe._

_While the demon in front of the priestess now would live, and her injuries would heal, the emotional scars would never disappear._

"_Would you like me to show you…" Midoriko said, getting the cat's attention. "… Where they're buried."_

_The cat didn't even need to think, she just slowly nodded, the tears still falling._

"_If you want to, you could come with us." The cat looked up, surprised. She followed the sitting's woman's gaze to see two figures, asleep, a pile of armor next to one of them. "Hisoka also lost his family, though to demons." The priestess said in a sad voice. "But even because of this, he does not hate all demons, he knows that some are good." She then turned to look at the smaller figure. "My brother, Jiro, doesn't hate your kind either, though he was too young to remember when our village was destroyed. As for myself." She then turned back to face the cat demon, who was now afraid of the possibility that she could still be killed. "I do remember when all of my village was destroyed, including my parents and grandfather… but I do not hate your kind." The woman then looked to the sky, as did the demon, gazing at the bright stars in the night sky._

"_I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone before." The cat looked back at the priestess, the tears still falling though not as much. "That night, when it happened, I felt do helpless. I was ten, my brother wasn't even two…" The woman paused to take a deep breath. "Our parents and grandfather were already dead and the house was on fire. I could hear the screams of the rest of the villagers, but I ignored them. I was trying to get to my brother, the house burning around me. He was in his crib, crying out, and I couldn't reach him. Just as I was about to reach him, I collapsed and blacked out."_

_She took another deep breath, looking back at the sleeping form that was her brother. "When I came too, I were out of the village, lying in a field… My brother was beside me. I didn't know how we had gotten out of the house, but I soon found out. There was someone sitting next to us, gazing at the burning village, though there were no more screams. The man said that my brother and myself were the only ones he could save, that everyone else was dead. He said that he killed the demons that attacked our village, though I never found out why he did so." Midoriko then looked back at the cat, whose gaze never left her. "That man, who saved my own and my brother's life and asked for nothing in return… he was a demon." The cat stared back, the tears having stopped. "I never found his name, but someday I want to find him and repay him for what he did. I know nothing about what him or what he's like… But I do know how he was able to kill all of the demons. He had one of the strongest and most beautiful attacks I've ever seen."_

_She then looked back at the fire, a small smile on her face. "One of the demons had survived and attacked him, the thing didn't survive long. The demon that saved me just engulfed his whole body in green flames and the attacker just died when it came to much… If I recall, he called the attack Heisen (War Fire). If you ever see anyone with that attack, thank them for me, will you?"_

_The cat could only nod as they both gazed into the fire. Hours passed and the sun was staring to rise, the two remained unmoving._

"_If you have nowhere else to go, would you like to come with us?" Midoriko suddenly said, breaking the silence. "We will not judge you just because of what you are, that's a promise." The two looked at each other, the woman smiling. "I've been saved by a demon before, and I always say that history will always repeat itself, so maybe someday you will save my life too."_

_The cat thought for a moment, going over all that the priestess had done, she realized that maybe she could trust her, that maybe not all humans were bad. Coming to the conclusion, she nodded, Midoriko smiled back._

"_As for that tradition of yours, the one about when you get your name." The priestess continued. "As of now, we're your family, so would you like to hear the name I though of for you? You may not like it." The cat nodded again, looking excited. Midoriko laughed quietly. "What do you think about the name… Kirara."_

* * *

Soifon stopped her series of shunpo to take a breath, she was not used to doing so many in rabid succession while carrying someone. She held on to the still panting Kagome as she stood in an alley. The captain then jumped back when a light formed in front of her. She was ready for anything, but when the light cleared, there laid another panting woman.

The only difference was that this one actually had something wrong with her. The bad thing was that it wasn't like anything the captain had ever seen before. I literally looked like she was melting. About half of all her fingers were melted away along with a hole being melted straight through her kimono and her skin where her heart should be and another one on her right cheek that was already eating away at her eye. Her short white hair also seemed to be melting as it was steadily getting shorter.

Soifon tensed, not knowing what to do. Kagome's eyes opened slowly and they fell on the new arrival. She recognized her instantly and weakly said, "A-Aokakesu?" A fit of coughs interrupted her. "Where have you been?"

"You know her?" Soifon asked, looking between the white haired woman who was slowly standing and the coughing woman in her arms.

"My… Zanpakuto." Another series of coughs and Soifon's eyes widened. Kagome then spoke to the new arrival. "Where have you been? I haven't been able to talk to you since yesterday."

Aokakesu just stood there, panting as she slowly dissolved. "Something's wrong, I don't know what it is that's causing it, all I know is that it started sometime yesterday and now its gone." She then looked at her hands. "But the damage is already done."

"I would say coming to the living world but were still here and you said its over, but I can't think of anything else besides… THE GIGAI!" Kagome shouted the last part, the coughs not interrupting. "I just got out of it, that's got to be it!"

"Maybe." Said the zanpakuto to her friend, neither seeing the captain pale. "But what could it have done to result in this." She finished, gesturing to the obvious difference.

The two were brought out of their thoughts when Soifon put Kagome down, leaning her against the wall. "I… I know what the gigai did." The captain said, feeling uncertain about what was going to happen.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked. "How do you know?" She then started coughing again, but this time blood came out.

Soifon looked at the ground, biting her lip. "Yamamoto really does hate you." She started. "He told Urahara to make a gigai that would seal away and drain your reiatsu, but other that that, there's nothing else it would do, I swear."

Kagome was taken back that Soifon would keep such a secret from her, but agreed when that shouldn't lead to something like this where she could barely move and her zanpakuto was dissolving.

Aokakesu, in one of the few times in her life, couldn't hide her emotions, for she knew what happened. It took her a moment but she figured it out. She remembered what she had seen just prior to when she started dissolving. She remembered how Kagome's inner world had gone into chaos, and she remembered when she saw the strange red light that was floating in the sky be destroyed and the inhuman scream that came out when it happened.

"You killed it."

"What?" Soifon asked, not paying enough attention to hear what the zanpakuto had said.

"You killed it." She repeated after a moment in the same detached voice. She then slowly raised her head to look at the captain. "You killed Kagome's other zanpakuto."

* * *

_Kirara stood there, alone again._

_In front of her was a pile of dirt and a stack of moss covered rocks. The rocks were arranged in a tower formation, but had been there for so long that the moss was inevitable. In front of it were ten lumps of dirt, two of which were newer._

_The cat demon stood there in the clearing in her larger form, staring at the rocks, then to each of the lumps of dirt._

_To each of the graves._

_This is where, four years ago, Midoriko had buried Kirara's family. The tower of rocks was the grave maker. The eight older lumps already had grass and wildflowers growing out of it._

_There lay her family that had been slaughtered by humans._

_She looked at the two newer lumps, the ones she had made herself. The dirt was just recently turned, only a few hours ago, so they stood out more than the older graves._

_There lay her family that had been slaughtered by demons._

_Earlier, on this same day, her and the three members of her new family had entered a large cave as a new base. Somehow, someway, a large group of demons had found them without her family knowing._

_The demons had rushed in and attacked without warning. Midoriko told Kirara to take her brother and get out of there. Though she didn't want to leave the priestess, she grabbed hold of the sixteen-year-old boy and flew out of the cave, Jiro screaming to his sister the whole way._

_Unfortunately, there were more demons outside, and they quickly attacked Kirara and the boy. While Kirara was knocked aside, dropping Jiro, the demons swarmed. Kirara managed to kill the attackers, but she wasn't fast enough._

_Jiro was already dead._

_The cat demon cried, but knew she had to go back and help the others. She flew back into the cave, killing every demon along the way. She made it back just in time to see Hisoka disappear under a swarm of demons._

_He wouldn't make it out._

_It was then that she saw Midoriko about to be swalowed by a snake-like demon. Her entire right arm and sword were gone and only her torso and head were not swallowed by the beast. Kirara rushed forward but with a blinding light and a scream from the priestess, it was all over._

_All the demons in the cave were turned to stone. Only Kirara remained, just to gaze upon her friend as she stood there._

_A stone statue._

_There was a hole where the woman's heart should be. In the hole rested a small pink jewel._

_Kirara had spent the next two hours digging Hisoka's corpse out from under the now stone statues. She had taken it, Jiro's corpse, and the jewel to the grave of her family._

_So now we find Kirara, alone again, staring at the ten graves._

_Ten graves she wished never had to exist._

_When they were all far to young to have to be buried, and one never was._

_Never having a body to bury._

_There was nothing left of the woman now, her body a stone statue in a cave some ways off._

_No_

_There was the jewel._

_The jewel that now lay on the ground in front of the demon._

_The demon that was trying not to cry._

_She would not want her to cry._

_She would be sad if she cried._

_She would do anything to keep her from crying._

_But she was not here._

_She was not here to hug her when he needed support._

_She was not here to pet her when he needed care._

_She was not here to keep her happy when she cried._

_So she cried_

_And cried_

_And cried_

_Someone would be sad if they saw her cry._

_She would be sad and try and make it better._

_She would always make it better._

_But now she couldn't._

_Kirara knew that the jewel was the last thing and only thing she had left of her friend and master, but she couldn't keep it._

_She had heard about some humans that could keep it purified and protect it, she would give it to them. She could never protect something like this on her own, no matter how much she tried._

_Maybe she would stay with the humans to help them protect the jewel._

_But, she found it ironic._

_That the one thing her friend always said would be the come true when she died._

_Kirara had already lost her family once._

_Now she lost it again._

_History always repeats itself_

* * *

"YOU KILLED IT!" Aokakesu yelled, rushing at Soifon. She grabbed the collar of Soifon's shirt and lifted her off the ground wit what was left of her fingers. "ALL IT WANTED WAS TO BE FREE AND YOU KILLED IT!"

The captain did not react, knowing that she deserved this, though still curious as to what she meant. "What are you talking about?"

Kagome would have asked the same thing, but was interrupted by more blood being coughed up, but that wasn't it. She had never, EVER, heard Aokakesu shout before. In all honesty, she thought the world was coming to an end.

The zanpakuto took a steady breath to calm herself, but the anger still showed on her face. "Kagome had two zanpakuto souls inside of her." She ignored Soifon's attempt to ask something and continued. "One of them was just maturing and needed a constant supply of reiatsu to not only become conscious but to also survive. So what do you think would happen when you suddenly take away its supply of reiatsu?"

Realization dawned on the two, but Aokakesu didn't stop talking. "Now that soul died before it even had a chance to live and, as I'm sure you know, a zanpakuto is a part of the shinigami's soul. So now Kagome is here with only two thirds of her soul and slowly decreasing."

"What do you mean by that?" Soifon asked, once again voicing Kagome's question. The captain then slipped out of the white haired woman's grip. Looking down at her hands, Aokakesu saw that her fingers were entirely gone. She touched her face to feel that more than half of her eyeball and her entire cheek were gone as well. Looking down, the hole in her chest was big enough to put a fist through.

Aokakesu sighed. "Do you really think that someone can live without a full soul?" She paused before answering her own question. "With how it is now, her soul will continue to deteriorate, starting with me, until there is nothing left."

"What happens then?" Kagome asked first this time. Aokakesu bit her lip, looking at the ground.

"… You'll die."

* * *

Unknown to the three, two others were listening,

"Kaa-chan…" The smaller one said, sobbing loudly.

Kirara stood there, looking at the young kitsune. She had not spoken in over fifty years but she never stopped thinking.

She never stopped caring.

There had been many that she had cared about over the years, but now there were only two.

And right now she was going to do something she didn't do very often.

She was going to prove what Midoriko always said wrong.

She was not going to let history repeat itself.

She was not going to lose another family.

She was going to get rid of the only thing she had left of her long past friend.

Kirara knew everything there was to know about the jewel, she had been the first to ever see it. She also knew that it would grant someone a wish, but only one wish was correct.

At that moment Kirara made a choice. She would die before she lost another family. And at this moment, the only two members of her family needed each other more than they needed her.

Without anymore thought, Kirara grabbed the jewel pieces out of Shippo's hand in her mouth and rushed forward. She turned the corner and met the surprised faces of the three talking women.

"Kirara!" Kagome called, surprised both that the cat demon was here and that she had not felt the jewel's presence until just now.

Kirara met Kagome's gaze and rushed forward. She jumped over the surprised and confused captain just as Shippo came around the same corner.

"Kaa-chan!" Shippo called, seeing the coughing woman.

Kirara started to glow a bright pink as she rushed at Kagome. The demon closed its eyes as she approached the woman and the glow engulfed her large body.

"_Shikon Jewel."_ Kirara thought, casting her wish that she hoped would come true. _"No… Midoriko-chan, disappear. Disappear from this world with me, and save Kagome."_


	19. Fantasy

**AN:** Yes, I finally updated! I feel so special!

Thank you to all who read, bigger thanks to all who reviewed, and even bigger thanks to those who don't hate me for making you wait for so long.

With nothing else to say and and not wanting you hate me anymore, here is the story!

**

* * *

Fantasy**

In a deserted village on a plateau halfway up a mountain a girl sat on a smooth rock that made a natural chair. Sango sat there, unsure of what to do, as she had been finding herself quiet often lately.

The first time was the day after Kagome died. While when she died, all she and the rest of the group did was cry, the day after the tragic loss, no one knew what to do and they all sat around a fire in silence. They couldn't have had a funeral, there was no body. And no one was really certain of how to feel. They had all lost someone precious before, but no one _ever_ expected for Kagome to die.

The second time was on the same day, when Inuyasha said that Kikyo would be traveling with them. Sango, along with the others, were still to shock to argue. She now wished she had denied it. While Kagome had held them together without even trying, Kikyo seemed to push them apart. It seemed that they were slowly separating from their once tight-nit group. Miroku was always sulking, when he finally remembered about his father's friend who could fix his Wind Tunnel, the old man had apparently been attacked by demon's, not even that raccoon friend of his survived. Inuyasha said he smelled Naraku, which probably simply meant that the bastard was tired of dealing with the curse that he himself made.

The third time was when they met Kagome again. The girl who had been her best friend had changed so much that they barely recognized her. She somehow learned to wield a sword and walk _on air_. While one she figured was possible as she herself carried a sword, but the other was only something she had seen a few demons do, but never a human. On the same day she had gotten her brother back, but her best friend had left again, far to fast then what should be possible for any species. She now stuck with Kohaku at all times, as he seemed to be the only one who would stay with her.

The fourth time was when Kirara and Shippo disappeared. This was easily marked as just as strange as the other times. While they were both acting very strange, to just disappear, and with the Shikon Jewel no less, was very strange. While Shippo's scent went form the camp sight to the well in, more or less, a random path. This either meant that the young kitsune had, at some point, gotten good at avoiding followers or, more likely, he was lost. Then there was Kirara, her scent was strange, while at first it was following Shippo's trail exactly, and ahead of Inuyasha and the others as the demon had left first, Kirara had stopped following the trail and went straight for the well, as if she suddenly figured out that was were Shippo was going and went to meet him there. The scents, according to Inuyasha at least, had converged right in the clearing with the well. He said that it was mixed in with a slight fear scent but no signs of a struggle, the scents just ended there.

Now, just moments before now, Sango had found the fifth time where she didn't know what to do. She was in her own village where she lived back when her family was alive. She was sitting on a rock that was in the very back of the village where it met the rest of the mountain. She was just sitting there and staring at the opening in the wall of stone that was the cave that she always knew. The young brunette, unlike many times before, felt no compelling urge to go into the cave and gaze upon the marvelous statue that she knew was there. She did not know if the barrier that always surrounded the cave entrance was still there and if it would not let her pass, but she felt no need to find out, but she did feel something else, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"Ane-ue?" She heard someone call from somewhere behind her, she didn't need to look to see who it was but she did anyway.

"Over here, Kohaku." She called back. The boy came running down the abandoned streets, clad in his green armor, his chain sickle tied to his waist.

"What are you doing here, Ane-ue?" The boy asked, coming to a stop beside his sister, panting slightly.

"Oh, nothing." She replied, looking back to the cave with a far away look in her eyes.

There was silence between the two siblings, Kohaku following the older of the two's gaze to the cave. "Are you going inside?" He asked.

Sango scowled. "No, I don't know why, but I don't want to go in. It's weird, like I'm missing something…" She ended in a smaller voice, trailing off.

Kohaku said nothing, letting his sister think.

"I just wonder what we should do now." She suddenly said. Seeing Kohaku's confused expression, she answered the unasked question. "With the jewel gone, what's the point of gathering the shards?" She then reached into the fold of the kimono she wore over her armor and pulled out a shard of said jewel. "There are nowhere near enough of the jewel left to find to be of any use to anyone."

Kohaku looked at his sister, confused. "But I thought that even a single shard could give anyone more power?"

"I guess you were never told, huh?" Sago asked, not looking up from the shard. "The jewel was never meant to give power alone." She began, and Kohaku sat down, sensing a long story. "When it is complete, it will grant a wish, any wish as far as I know. But, it does not need to be complete for a wish to be made. I think that you could make a wish if you had even half of the jewel."

"Then we could have wished for something, couldn't we?" The boy exclaimed, causing his sister to chuckle lightly.

"Yes we could have, but unless the shard is complete, then by wishing, you would have to give more, kind of like a sacrifice."

"What kind of sacrifice?" Kohaku asked, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

The amusement that was in Sango's eyes moments before disappeared and she slipped the shard back into her kimono. "If I had to guess? I'd say that someone, if not multiple people, would have to give their life." Kohaku gasped at this, but Sango continued. "As far as I know, the more of the shard you have, the less of a sacrifice you need. So with the parts of the shard that Shippo took, he could probably make a wish and he'd be the only one to die."

There was silence that lasted for what felt like hours. Suddenly another feeling overcame Sango; it was more of a gut instinct that something was going to happen, and it wouldn't be good. "You should go back to the others." She said, as calmly as she could. She always trusted her gut, as it was usually right, and she didn't want Kohaku anywhere near her when things started getting messy. "I'll be back soon, so don't worry." She put on the best smile she could, but Kohaku wasn't fooled.

"Alright." He said, not wanting to leave, but knowing that she would make him if he didn't comply. "Just be back before it gets dark out." He said as he turned and headed back the way he came.

Sango sighed, looking back at the cave. The gut feeling was slowly getting worse; it became so bad that she wasn't even surprised when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Sango."

Said woman turned to look over her shoulder to stare at the new comer who made no sound as he came. "Naraku." She spat at him, though he seemed unfazed. "What are you doing here?"

"Simple, my dear Sango." The half-demon replies, smiling ever so slightly. "I've come for the jewel shard you have."

"Why so aggressive all of a sudden?" Sango asks, hoping to by time as she stands up and faces her would-be attacker, a hand on her boomerang. "I would have thought that you would just wait and then sent your 'detachments' after us."

"I simply got tired with waiting." He said, not reacting to her taking a stance. "Now hand the shard."

"You want it? Then you'll have to pull it from my cold, dead hands." She spat back, throwing her kimono aside, leaving her in her armor, Hiraikotsu in hand.

"I plan to."

* * *

"_Why are there so many hollows?"_ Thought a man who seemed to be crying, but made no sound to show he was doing so.

He looked around the sky of the city, easily seeing the large amounts of low level hollows. It was very odd to see so any in one place without cause, and he did not sense a cause. There was nothing around to attract them-

"_What is that?"_ He thought his emerald green eyes seeing a very odd sight.

Somewhere around the edge of the city, a bright pink pillar of light was shooting into the sky. It forced the clouds to part around it as it passed them. All the hollows flying around in the sky instantly turned and soared to the light, while all the passing humans were oblivious to the situation. It was then that the silent figure felt the power and the reason the hollows were going towards it, being one himself.

"_What is this feeling?"_ He, again, questioned himself, turning fully to the pillar of light. _"I feel… attracted to it, but why? I have never felt a power like that before. It's very… hypnotizing."_

The hollows blindly went to the pillar of light, a few being destroyed along the way by various forces. Too which the figure paid no attention to, figuring it was the shinigami he heard lived here.

His emotionless eyes stared for minute longer, before taking off to where the pillar of light still shown.

He did not know why he was going; he simply felt a _need_ to go. The aura that was given off was strange, and he simply _wanted_ it. Which was very unlike him, as he never wanted anything.

He never had a need for anything, as he never had any emotions to that he needed to fill.

But, he wanted it nonetheless, even if he was emptiness.

* * *

"_Violet…"_

That was Kagome's first thought as she opened her mocha eyes. She made no other movement; just lay there, only seeing a deep violet. It was a peaceful color, yet she could not think of anything that was that color, it was too unique.

There was a light breeze blowing through wherever it was that she lay. In the corner of her eyes she could see she was surrounded by short golden colored grass, maybe ankle height.

The golden grass rustled in the light breeze and it was then that Kagome figured out that the violet expansion in front of her was the sky.

"_A violet colored sky? That can't be right, what have I been drinking?"_ Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard someone coming.

For some reason, she did not move and simply waited for the person to show him or herself. She didn't have to wait long as someone soon came into view and stood right next to Kagome. "Hi." The person said, looking down to Kagome.

It was a girl, no older than seven, eight at the most. She had pale blond hair that was held up in a ponytail that came over her right shoulder and stopped just at the collarbone. She had black bangs that somehow went well with the blond and came down on either side of her face. Her skin was slightly pale but not unhealthy looking. Her face had the kind of roundness that only a child could have and just made you want to scream 'Kawaii'. The more feral looking aspects about her were that her eyes were a strange brick red with a vertical slit for the pupil and a longer than usual canine could be seen jutting out her upper lip. She wore a simple orange sundress. Around her neck was a necklace. It was a simple thick, brown string with a bright pink marble hanging from it.

"Um, hi?" Kagome replied, unsure. The child tilted her head to the side, looking down at Kagome with a hurt expression.

"Do you not recognize me?" The little girl asked, looking like she might cry.

Now Kagome was afraid, out of all the things that she can stand, a crying child was not one of them. She kept looking over the child's face to try and recognize her, but she could see nothing familiar. It was then that she saw an odd mark on the child's forehead that she was unsure how she missed it before.

The mark was a tattoo of some sort. It was a black, four-pointed star with the horizontal points closer together than the vertical points. The star looked very familiar, only moments later was it when Kagome placed it. Seeing it many times before on the forehead of a certain feline demon.

"Kirara?" She asked upon seeing that her eyes were also similar to the petit demon.

The child gave a small yet happy smile in return. "How's everything with you, Kagome?"

"Um… good." The woman said, sitting up, never taking her eyes off the supposed demon. "Now can I ask something?"

"Sure." The child replied, her small smile remaining.

"Am I drunk?" Kagome asked seriously. Kirara's smile left and was replaced by a confused expression. The blonde slowly shook her head. "Did I get hit on the head recently?" Again, Kirara slowly shook her head. "Am I dreaming?"

"Oh for the love of god, you're fine." Came a stoic voice from behind Kagome. She turned and saw Aokakesu standing there, looking back with her usual emotionless face, despite how annoyed her words were. "Now do you want an explanation or not?"

Kagome took up a mock thoughtful pose. "Sure, why not. I mean it's not like I never woke up in a place with a violet sky and a cat that became human."

Easily ignoring the sarcasm after years of practice, Aokakesu sat down next to her friend with Kirara doing the same on the other side of Kagome. "Remember how I said that the sky took on the color of whatever reiatsu is most prominent in you?" At receiving a nod, the zanpakuto continued. "Well, here you go." She said, gesturing with one hand to the sky.

"Wait, what?" Kagome asked, looking between her friend and the sky. "But isn't supposed to be blue or red or something?"

"That's the thing, none of the reiatsu inside of you are conflicting anymore, they all mixed." All three of them look at the sky, when Kagome had a thought.

"Then why is it violet?" She asked, looking back at Aokakesu. "Shouldn't it be very dark purple or something? I mean that is what you get when you mix red and blue, right?" The white haired zanpakuto's expression changed only slightly, but after knowing her for so long, Kagome could tell that she knew something. "What aren't you telling me?" She asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

Aokakesu almost smirked. Almost. "I have left nothing out. All of the powers in you are in complete harmony." Kagome narrowed her eyes further, still seeing that she was not being told everything. Finding it harder to hold back a knowing smirk, the zanpakuto spoke again. "And by all powers, I mean mine, Kirara's, and your priestess powers."

Kagome's eyes widened. "You mean-"

"Yep." Aokakesu interrupted her, something she rarely did. "No more random spurts of power that result in pain."

Kagome widened her eyes further, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline. "No more visions?" She asked, her surprise barely held back her happiness.

"Well, not exactly." Aokakesu admitted. "But I can promise you that, while it may exhaust you somewhat, but not to badly, it will never hurt you ever again."

"Explain." It wasn't a request.

Letting out a light sigh, Aokakesu continued. "You can still look into the future with you priestess powers, though now only at your own will. As I said, you will become tired after using it, but not badly so. At worst, it would be like you just sprinted and are catching your breath."

There was silence as, the never-ending breeze making no sound. After more thought, Kagome realized something else her friend had said. "You said the three powers were harmonized and that one of them was…" She trailed off, turning to her other side to the other sitting in the field.

Kirara was still there, and in all honesty, Kagome had forgotten about the demon. The blonde was asleep, leaning her small head on Kagome's shoulder. This surprised Kagome, as she had not felt being leaned on. Her surprise was then sent skyrocketing, Kirara was asleep. She was snoring lightly, her dark red eyes closed.

"Ok, what happened while I was out?" Kagome said, quieter than before as not to wake the young looking demon. "I thought that zanpakuto souls didn't sleep."

"They don't but what makes you say that she's a zanpakuto?" Aokakesu asked, also quieter.

"Well if this is my inner world and she's here then that seems like the only possibility." Her friend seemed to think over what Kagome had said, then nodded in acceptance.

"I can see that, and you are somewhat right." The still awake zanpakuto said. "I actually have absolutely no idea what she is right now. From what I can tell, she _is_ a zanpakuto but because of the method in her becoming one she isn't your average one, the fact that she's asleep right now just proves that."

Kagome looked back to the sleeping form that was Kirara and smiled warmly before wrapping her arm around the child and running her fingers through the pale blond hair.

"She saved your life." Aokakesu continued, also smiling at the cute sight, though Kagome couldn't see it. "The gigai you were in destroyed the demonic part of you before it could mature, and thus part of your soul. With that, I began to die as well. Not many things can survive with less than half a soul so I'm sure that you could guess what was going on." Kagome didn't seem to hear her, though she knew the woman was listening. "Kirara used the Shikon Jewel and saved you, that was her wish. Though it should have killed her, it instead brought her, and the jewel here."

Kagome froze when she heard what should have happened to Kirara, and then grew confused at the end part. "The jewel is here?" She asked, looking away from the sleeping demon/zanpakuto and to her friend.

"Her necklace."

At Aokakesu's words, Kagome looked at the simple necklace around Kirara's neck. It only took her a moment to notice the thick crack along the pink marble that hung from it, then a moment more to make the connection. "Can it do anything?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the jewel.

"Yes, actually." Aokakesu answer, Kagome looking at her from the corner of her eye without raising her head. "It will make your priestess powers stronger, though no demon or even Kikyo will sense it unless you use your priestess powers. Other than that, nothing, but you will probably become stronger if you gather the other shards."

Kagome's smile returned from that, she never did like the jewel, but if it could do nothing but help her then she would live with it for now. She then resumed running her fingers through the child's hair, a small smile appeared on Kirara's lips as she snuggled into Kagome's shoulder.

"As I said before, Kirara does not have a sword form, that does not mean that she cannot help you." Aokakesu said, neither of them taking their eyes off the sleeping child. "I don't know exactly what you can do now, but if I had to guess, I'd say that you have the powers of demon, but you have to find out what those powers are on your own."

"Why is she a child anyway?" Kagome suddenly asked. "I thought that she was close to a hundred."

"Probably because of the jewel. It probably gave her some kind of rebirth in the form of a young body. Probably also made her more childish, thus her sleeping." Kirara's light snoring was the only sound as the other two were silent, the breeze still silent.

"So, recap." Kagome said, looking back at Aokakesu, just in time to see her smile disappear back to her normal emotionless face, but said nothing about it. "I can now look into the future without pain and at my own will. I have all the power I had before with my priestess powers, plus a lot more because of the jewel, and have the powers of a demon. Anything else I missed?" Though it was rhetorical, Aokakesu answered anyway.

"Just one more thing." She said, Kagome groaning in mock annoyance.

"What?" Instead of speaking, Aokakesu just brought her hand up and tugged on her own necklace.

Looking at it, Kagome smiled again. "And all of this happened in one day? Damn I must be lucky." Aokakesu just rolled her eyes and released her necklace, the newly added fifth metal flower, a deep orange in color, fitting in perfectly with the other flowers. Kagome then looked back at Kirara. "It's even the same color as her sundress." She said absent-mindedly.

After another minute of peaceful silence, Kagome sighed, a frown creasing her face. "I have to get going, Shippo has to be worried sick. And knowing what Yamamoto or whatever the hell his name was did to me, I don't want to leave him alone where they can get to him anytime soon." She then smiled back down at Kirara. "And you owe me an explanation as to why and how you managed to find me." She said to the demon, though she knew that she couldn't hear her, sleep does that to you. "… Thank you."

Kagome then leaned down and kissed Kirara on the tattoo on her forehead, the demon shifting in her sleep. Moments later, Kagome faded away like a ghost would, and left her inner world.

No longer having anything to lean on, Kirara slowly fell, only to be caught by Aokakesu and have her head put in the white-haired zanpakuto's lap. Despite the well done catch, Kirara's eyes still fluttered open.

The young looking demon looked around before her silted eyes rested on Aokakesu's smiling face. "'Kesu-oneechan?" Yep, defiantly more childish. "Where's Kagome? I thought she was here."

"She had to go, Kirara." Aokakesu replied, not bothering to hold back her smile. "But she said thank you." Kirara smiled back at her. It was then that Aokakesu got a rare evil glint in her eye. "How about I tell you a story, Kirara?" At seeing the demon's confused yet eager expression, she continued. "It's something that Kagome did some time ago, and I always find it entertaining, despite that the subway almost killed her. Do you want to here?"

"Yes please." Kirara replied, both their smiles widening.

"Good, now listen up."

* * *

"Dammit, what is all of this?" Ichigo asked as he slashed another hollow out of existence.

"How should I know?" Rukia shouted back without looking at him.

The two stood back to back as hollows swarmed around them. They were cutting through them with no problem but they just kept coming. It was then that a pillar of pink light lit up the sky. As if on cue, all the hollows seemed to forget the two and all rushed to the light.

"Oh, what now?" Ichigo continued to complain as he ran after the swarm to get ahead of it.

"Kurosaki, stop complaining." The two turned, not stopping in their run to see Ishida running after them and easily catching up. "I could hear you from three blocks down."

While Ichigo grunted and remained quiet, Rukia spoke up. "Ishida, did you use hollow bait again?"

"No, whatever this is isn't because of me." The Quincy said. "Besides, there wouldn't be much of a point of me doing this."

"There wasn't a point for you to use it last time." Ichigo said, just loud enough for the others to hear him, though he was ignored.

It was then that the pillar of light died away and all the hollows stopped in their tracks, apparently confused and having no more reason to continue. So they went back to attacking the two shinigami and Quincy.

Ichigo cursed under his breath and rushed the attackers. "Kurosaki, stop complaining and fight." Ishida called, not even looking in the boy's direction.

"I swear Ishida, if this turns out to be your fault then you're going to regret it!" Ichigo yells back, killing a dozen hollows with little effort.

"Stop complaining!" Ishida and Rukia say at the same time.

* * *

Further away, Soifon was mercilessly killing hollows. She grunted as another masked soul came from her right. Faster than most could follow, she stabbed the creature between its eyes with her yellow hilted wakizashi. In that same instant she had stabbed three others in the same place.

As the four hollows died and disappeared, she grunted. "Only four, I'm still nowhere near as good as Yoruichi-sama." She mumbled under her breath. Dozens of hollows swarmed around her but she remained calm. "These things are getting annoying." She said, seeing five of them come at her from be hind, roaring loudly. She then saw all the others surrounding her attack as well. **"Utsusemi (Molting Cicada)."** She said, she would have sounded bored if her voice didn't contain its usual annoyed and slightly angry tone.

All the hollows struck the prone captain, their various claws and tentacles piercing her body. Only for the "captain" to fade away, showing it was an afterimage. Outside of the huddle of hollows, Soifon stood, still looking bored, despite her usual scowl was present.

"**Sting all Enemies to Death, Suzumebachi."** She muttered under her breath, her wakizashi glowing and shrinking. When the light faded, it revealed a black and gold gauntlet around her wrist and forearm of her right arm and metal surrounding her middle finger of the same arm in the shape of a bee's stinger, a small golden chain connecting the two. "Annoying." She repeated before disappearing in a shunpo.

Only moments later she reappeared on the other side of the mass of hollows, facing away from them. On various parts of all the prone hollows, a butterfly shaped stamp appeared, spurting blood. The hollows all roared in pain.

"That's one…" The captain said as all the hollows once again rushed her, not even turning to face them. Blurring out of existence once more and reappearing in the same spot, Soifon looked over her shoulder at the hollows as they all disappeared in a flash of light as the butterfly stamps spun and expanded, destroying their bodies. "… That's two." She finished.

Without anymore "annoyances" the captain turned to look at Kagome. Said woman was still lying on the sidewalk, unconscious. While the woman had been the origin of the pillar of pink light, Soifon found that the hollows were more important than finding out what that was for.

Normally, she wouldn't leave a prisoner by herself but with hollows all over the city and the only other people around to kill them were a bunch of kids, she had a bigger job to do. Besides Kagome didn't need protection, the strange child that was still with her was able to kill a hollow with surprising ease. It threw some kind of greenish fire at it, while the fire didn't kill the hollows quickly; they were unable to do anything because of the pain. So Kagome was well protected considering that all the hollows around were very weak, and she doubted that the child could lift Kagome up to run away. Without another thought, Soifon turned and took off farther into the city.

* * *

Down with Shippo, the young kitsune was standing vigilant in protecting the unconscious woman who he considered his mother. He had already destroyed about a dozen of these strange creatures, and he recognized the roar of one when he heard it from behind him. Whipping around, he saw one of the creatures that got away from the lady from before, whom he noted was now gone.

"**Kitsune-inchiki (Fox Magic)!"** He called, pulling a top from a found in his shirt and threw it at the creature. The top grew to the size of a van and crashed down on the creatures back, crushing him into the ground while spinning and ripping away its flesh.

Hearing another roar, Shippo turns to his left to see two more creatures lunging at him. He held out his arms to his sides, palms up. **"Kitsune-bi (Fox Fire)!"** A ball of blue flames appeared in each hand and he tossed one at each creature. While one of them hit, the other creature looked like a kind of centipede and easily avoided the attack, continuing on its charge. Gritting his teeth, Shippo reached back into his shirt fold and pulled out a leaf. Pressing the piece of foliage against his forehead just before the creature tackled him, a puff of smoke surrounded him before clearing and revealing him as a large pink balloon.

The creature hit the balloon dead-on, but instead of piercing it, it bounced off like if it hit a trampoline. In another puff of smoke, the balloon became Shippo again. The young demon replaced the leaf in his shirt and held out his hand again. **"Kitsune-bi!"** Again, a ball of blue flames appeared in his palm before he threw it at the stunned centipede monster, burning it to a crisp.

Before he could relax, Shippo heard something from behind him again, and turned to see the creature he had crushed under a top was back on its feet, the normal sized top on the ground beside it. "This one is pretty tough." Shippo said to himself as the only slightly injured creature roared and charged again. "I'm going to need a stronger attack" he said, quickly reaching into his pants pocket and produced three small firebombs, though in reality they were little more than firecrackers, he still called them firebombs. He threw the firebombs at the charging creature, each connecting with its head and exploding with a bright flash and loud bang, stopping the creature in its tracks.

The creature quickly regained its senses and looked to see _two_ Shippos running at him. While one ran to the right of the creature, the other ran to its left. The creature looked between the two, unsure of what to do.

"**Kitsune-bi!"** The creature looked up to the source of the voice, to see a third Shippo, mid-jump, with a blue fireball in each hand. No longer were they the normal baseball sized flames, now they were each larger than a watermelon. With a battle cry, Shippo hurled the flames at the masked creature.

The flames hit the target and caused a massive explosion. Shippo landed back on the ground, when the smoke cleared, showing a large, smoldering crater as the only evidence left. The other two Shippos walked back over the third before they were engulfed in a puff of smoke, each leaving a leaf.

"Got to love _nijushin_ (doppelganger)." The kitsune said as he grabbed the leaves and replaced them in his shirt fold. He then turned back to the unmoving Kagome and walked back, having moved during the short battle. "Don't worry, Kaa-chan." He said, stopping beside her and scoping the area for more masked creatures. "I won't let anything happen to you."

* * *

"_Was it her?"_ The figure, with the marks on his face that made it look like he was crying, thought.

He looked at the unconscious woman on the streets below and the strange child that was protecting her. It did not seem that the child could see the pillar of light while it was there, but yet he could see hollows… strange.

Unlike all the other hollows in the city, the figure had already made it to where the pillar of light was, the shinigami captain not noticing him for some reason, probably focused on the pillar, just as he had been.

"_She does not appear different."_ The figure thought, unmoving as various battles raged around him. He had been genuinely surprised by the child's ability to hold off three hollows at once, despite being so young and inexperienced. It seemed that the will to protect the woman drove the fear out of him. _"Why does he protect her?"_

He then saw that the woman seemed to be waking up.

"_If she was the origin of the light, then she may be useful to Aizen-sama."_

* * *

"Kaa-chan!" Shippo called, seeing Kagome beginning to get up.

"Shippo?" Kagome asked, sitting up and looking around, seeing the many battles all around. "What's going on here?" She asked.

"All these weird monsters are attacking." The kitsune replied. "The lady you were with before left to go fight them and Kirara disappeared." He finished in a sad tone.

Kagome looked down at her surrogate son and smile warmly. "Don't worry, Shippo, Kirara is fine."

"How do you know that?" Shippo asked, obviously confused.

Kagome chuckled at the cute expression. "It's complicated, and right now isn't the best time to-" She stopped with a gasp, her eyes widening.

In less time then what should be possible, Kagome had turned fully to her right, her left hand behind her, grabbing onto Shippo's shoulder to keep him from moving, her right hand grabbing her drawn sword tightly.

"What do you want…" She spat out at something that the young kitsune could not see. "… Arrancar."

"I simply wish to talk." Came a cold voice. Shippo stuck his head out from behind Kagome to see who was talking.

It was a man, a very pale man. He had tear-like green marks down both his cheeks. His impassive eyes an emerald green. His black hair seemed somehow messy and yet neat at the same time and reached below his chin. He had something that resembled half of a helmet on the left side of his head and a green hilted katana in a green sheath at his waist. There was a strange hole just below his neck. His clothes consisted of white hakama pants with black trim and a white vest that came down in the back like a composer's would.

"I've heard it before now what do you want?" Kagome replied, her voice and stance unchanging.

"To ask a question." The man said, his voice sent shivers down Shippo's spine.

"Ask away." Kagome's voice was practically dripping with sarcasm.

"What are you?" Kagome visibly stiffened at this and brought the hand she was holding Shippo back with forward to grasp her sword in both hands. "You are not a normal shinigami, you are much more."

"_Shinigami?"_ Shippo thought, utterly confused as to what was going on. _"Kaa-chan, what did you get yourself into?"_

Kagome thought over her answer before speaking. "I am many things." She simply said, obviously not trusting the arrancar in front of her.

"What are those things?" The pale man said, this time it was defiantly not a question but an order.

"Shinigami for one, but you already knew that." She replied, meeting his gaze, unflinching. "I am also two other things but even if I were to tell you what then they wouldn't mean anything to you so I won't bother."

The man narrowed his eyes by a fraction. There was a tense silence, neither moving and Shippo looking between them. Kagome's eyes darted to the left as she felt another presence approaching, this one not bothering to hide like the arrancar in front of her. She saw Ichigo rush through the air and continue on, not noticing her. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw Ichigo had left; this did not go unnoticed by the arrancar.

"Do you not want Soul Society to find you?" He asked and Kagome stiffened again, it just seemed like this guy knew how to get under anyone's skin.

"They very nearly killed me, I'd rather not go back." She replied curtly. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to be on my way." With that, she turned and began to walk away, one eye on the arrancar. She reached down and took Shippo's hand in her own to lead him away.

The arrancar just watched them go, seeming not to care. "What is your name?" He called after her.

She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first?" She countered.

They stared at each other again, neither backing away. "Ulquiorra Cifer." He said simply.

"Kagome Higurashi."

With that, she turned away and walked away, never letting go of her sword or the child at her side. _"Aizen-sama will be very interested."_


	20. Spy

**AN:** New chapter, hooray and all that.

Ok, there's very little Kagome in this chapter, but deal with it.

Read & Review  
Enjoy

* * *

**Spy**

Shunsui sat on the roof of his squad's barracks. His usual pink haori on with sake bottle in hand. He looked over the many buildings that were Seireitei with a deep scowl on his face. It was this scowl that if someone looked at him, and knew him well enough, they could easily tell that something was wrong. The only question, was _what_.

The pink wearing captain felt a presence of someone behind him, but did not react, already having a good guess as to whom it was. "Deep thought doesn't fit you, my friend." Said the new arrival, coming to stand beside the unmoving captain.

"And serious doesn't fit you either when you're not in a fight." Shunsui replied, taking another sip from the saucer in his hands before pouring more sake into it and taking another sip.

"That's to much sake, even for you." The other said and Shunsui ignored it and patted the ground next to him. With a sigh, the other person sat down next to the lazy captain, revealing it to be Jushiro Ukitake, captain of the thirteenth division. "I think I need something to drink, this headache is killing me." The white haired captain grumbled out, rubbing his head with a single hand. "And I don't think this one is because of my illness."

Shunsui chuckled at his long time friend's antics. "Sorry, but I don't have any tea on me." The two captains were polar opposites when it came to drinking habits. While Shunsui was almost never seen without is faithful, and seemingly bottomless, sake bottle, Jushiro would really only drink tea of some kind.

"That's fine, just give me some sake then." Jushiro replied, much to the surprise of his friend. At not getting a response, the white haired captain looked over to his friend to see Shunsui looking back at him, eyes wide and threatening to drop the bottle in his hands. "What?" Jushiro asked, somewhat defensive.

"You _never_ drink in the middle of the day." Shunsui replied, seeming to have lost the ability to blink. "Are you sure that sickness of yours isn't going to your head?"

Jushiro laughed lightly, despite the feeling his friend's question was actually serious. "No, I'm actually getting better now that you mention it." He then sighed and his ace grew serious. "I assume that you noticed the change in the captain commander as well?"

Shunsui nodded, his face also becoming serious as they both looked back in the direction Shunsui had been looking for, the direction of the first division's barracks. "Yeah, I'm surprised no one else has, especially Komamura, but I guess that he'll always follow Yama-jii no matter what."

"My point exactly." Jushiro said, holding out his hand to his friend. "Now, may I have some sake before this headache gets any worse?"

Shunsui smirked as he pulled a second saucer out of… somewhere. "Yeah, yeah, just hold on." The lazy captain filled the saucer with sake before handing it to his friend and picking up his own saucer. He held the dish up in front of him. "A toast, to the glories of alcohol."

Jushiro chuckled again. "Is that all you ever toast to?" He asked, half-seriously.

"Is there anything else?" The pink wearing captain said as he took a sip of the drink. Jushiro just shook his head as he followed suit and sipped at the liquid, only to let out a fit of coughs.

"How strong is this stuff?" Jushiro asked, his rasp voice coming out.

"Strong enough." Shunsui replied with a smirk.

"I will never know how you can stand this." The white haired captain replied before taking another sip of the sake, and coughing it back up. "But it's easy to understand why you always have it with you. Best tasting sake I ever had." He took another sip, managing to hold down another cough. "Why haven't I ever had this before?"

"You never asked for something to drink when I had it on me." Shunsui asked, also taking a sip but having no negative reactions like his friend.

"We've gone out drinking before." Jushiro replied, taking one more sip and emptying the saucer. Seeing this, Shunsui gestured to the bottle that had never left his hand and Jushiro nodded. As Shunsui was refilling his friend's saucer, he answered.

"Do you remember the last time I paid for the drinks whenever we went out?" Jushiro though for a moment before realizing that he couldn't remember _any_ times that his pink-clad friend had paid for the drinks. Seeing this, Shunsui continued. "Exactly, its always you or someone else that pays for the drinks. And, as captain, I have mooching rights to drink all I want and not waste any sake that _I_ had paid for previously."

Jushiro narrowed his eyes and gave a half-assed glare at his fellow captain, muttering something about 'Annoying alcoholic genius'. Shunsui just shrugged, he could live with that. They both took another sip of the drink and Jushiro barely even stiffened this time. "Damn, this is good." The white haired captain exclaimed, and Shunsui just cocked an eyebrow at his friend's out burst. _"Cursing? Sake must be getting to him already."_ Was the lazy captain's conclusion.

"Alright Jushiro, what were you saying before?" Shunsui inquired, hoping to get his friend to answer properly before he got to drunk.

Jushiro scratched his chin in an exaggerated thinking pose. "Uh… I don't remember now."

Shunsui smacked his forehead with his palm. "How can anyone get this drunk this quickly?" He wondered, looking back at his friend. "He's only finished two shots of it. I thought that he had a much better tolerance than that." His beliefs in his friend's level of alcohol was further shattered when he saw that Jushiro didn't even realize that his saucer was empty and continued to try and drink the nonexistent liquid. "… Wow."

With a sigh, Shunsui turned away from his friend and looked back into the distance where he could just make out the first squad barracks. _"Whatever happened to Yama-jii, all I know is that it's not good."_ The pink wearing captain thought seriously. _"I would like to think that the betrayal of three captains just got his stressed, but I know that's not it. He's acting more serious towards everyone sure, but he's being harsher on Kagome-chan than everybody else and I know for a fact that he's not the type of person that would judge someone like that unless they broke the law, which I know that Kagome-chan never did."_ With another sigh, Shunsui finished another saucer full of sake, already losing count after the twelfth refill. _"I got to find out what's wrong with him before something goes to far."_

The lazy captain put his empty saucer back into his haori and stood up. "Okay Jushiro, we should… Jushiro?" Shunsui looked around but found no trace of his friend on the roof. "Well, where did he go now?" He asked himself, scratching the back of his head with the hand that wasn't holding his trusty sake bottle.

He then heard a voice from the streets below. "Captain Ukitake? Is everything alright, you don't look to good." Said person could be identified as Rangiku Matsumoto, as the meaningless mumbling that followed could only be Ukitake in a drunken stupor.

"_Seriously, how can anyone get that drunk that quickly?"_ Shunsui thought as he went to find his white-haired friend. Never noticing the figure watching them.

"_So, they're finally seeing through it, not good." The figure hidden in the shadows thought, seeing the brief conversation. "I have to work quicker, Aizen-sama will not be pleased if things go bad so soon. I can either keep this charade going for as long as possible before making a run for it when they find me. Or, I can take out anyone who is suspicious right now…"_

After a moment of thinking, the figure reached into one of its boots and pulled out a long knife, with the hilt seeming to be made out of bones. The razor sharp blade gleaming in the light that wasn't there. _"… and I know exactly which one to choose."_

* * *

Ulquiorra Cifer, Cuatro Espada, aspect of death: Emptiness. He was, in his opinion, very few things. He was loyal to the man who gave him power and uncaring to those who were his enemies. There was no person he truly cared about, nor were there any who he hated. Various other arrancar, some of which were Espada, annoyed him with how ignorant they were or their blatant disrespecting of Aizen, but that annoyance would never cloud his judgment, he wouldn't even call annoyance an emotion, more like an unfortunate disagreement of opinions.

So, as he had never truly felt any emotions before, it was with great confusion that he walked down the halls of Las Noches, Aizen's castle. He was feeling something right now, though he had no idea what it was, he doubted that it was an emotion, mainly because he believed that he was incapable of feeling such things. From what little that he knew of emotions, he couldn't compare it to what he was feeling now, though the thought of actually _feeling_ something was disturbing to say the least. What he was feeling, whatever it may be, it was really only a need that originated from the woman he had met; though he couldn't place what he felt he needed to do, kill her maybe. If anything, he could really only compare it to his need to serve Aizen, though even then they were very different.

Pushing all of those thoughts away, he focused on his recently finished mission. He was to go and scout out the terrain and any potentially dangerous occupants of Karakura as a precaution to an apparent kidnapping of some human girl, though he did not know her name, yet at least.

It was strange, at first Aizen had told him to go to Karakura with Yammy, of all people, to go a scout ahead. Then shortly before he planned to tell Yammy, Aizen said that upon finding new information that he was to go alone. Aizen seemed to be 'finding new information' a lot lately, though he never said where it was coming from.

It was then that Ulquiorra arrived at the meeting room where he would brief Aizen on his trip to the living world, but did something he couldn't remember ever doing before; he paused. He never had to think to hard for anything before, but now he found himself at a loss as what to do. He knew that he had to enter the room and report to Aizen about the various shinigami that reside in Karakura, one being a captain, but he was unsure if he should tell him about the strange woman that he meet, Kagome, if he remembered correctly.

Why wouldn't he tell Aizen? He couldn't shake this strange feeling, which he had determined wasn't the need to kill the woman, but what was it? He would have to think about that later, no doubt Aizen had already sensed him out the door and he didn't want to keep the man waiting.

With no other thoughts on the matter, Ulquiorra pushed the double doors open and entered the long room that only had a single table and eleven chairs to occupy it, at least it usually did. Right now all but two of the chairs was taken, one being at the head of the oval shaped table, the other being at the same end of the table.

"Ulquiorra? What the hell took you so long?"

The Cuatro Espada said nothing to show that he had heard Yammy and kept his usual emotionless face as he went to his seat, leaving the chair at the head of the table to be the only empty seat left. To Ulquiorra's right was another Espada, one who seemed to be asleep.

Coyote Starrk, Primera Espada, aspect of death: Solitude. Most likely the most powerful arrancar within Aizen's army. From what Ulquiorra knew, his reiatsu alone could kill a lower hollow and actually destroy Las Noches, unlike for the other high ranking Espada where it was just a precaution if a battle were to occur, Starrk could apparently destroy the castle in his Resurreccion form by using a single attack, if not from just standing there. Though the Cuatro didn't know his superior's personally, nor did he know his power, never having seen his Resurreccion or even a fight, minus the arguments he had with his Fraccion. He did, however, know of one of the Primera's annoying tendencies. Said tendency was what he classified it under 'blatant disrespect of Aizen'.

"Wake up, Starrk." Came the Cuatro's monotone voice. "You shouldn't be sleeping when Aizen-sama has called a meeting."

Starrk did not move from his position, which consisted of being slumped over in his chair with his head on the table, appearing to be asleep and not seeming to care that his current pillow was a hard stone. The Primera then turned his head slowly to Ulquiorra, not taking his head off the table. "Could you be quiet, this is one of the few places that I can sleep without having Lilynette wake me up. If Aizen-sama wants my opinion then I will give it, otherwise I'm going to catch up on some much needed rest." With that, he turned his head back so his forehead was once again resting on the table.

"I would have thought that you would have dozens of hiding spots around Las Noches to hide from Lilynette." Said Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Sexta Espada, aspect of death: Destruction.

"I do." Came Starrk's reply, muffled by the table. "But she knows where the majority of them are, the only reason that I can stay in one place for so long is that it takes her awhile to get to me."

Nnoitra Gilga, Quinto Espada, aspect of death: Despair, snickers at the statement. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why you lettin' a woman do that ta you?" This caused another person to laugh, though much louder, Yammy Riyalgo, Diez Espada, aspect of death: Rage.

"You're one to talk." Yammy bellowed to the now scowling Quinto. "Every woman that ever sat in one of these chairs could kick your ass. Hell, even Cirucci could fight on par with you."

Nnoitra grit his teeth. "What's that supposed to mean?" He yelled back, standing up and slamming his hands down on the table, causing it to shake, much to Starrk's annoyance.

"What do you people not understand about me needing to sleep?" The Primera questioned, his voice still muffled by his make shift pillow.

"It means exactly what it sounds like." Yammy shouts back, also standing up, knocking his chair back in the process. "You fought Neliel multiple times when she was still here and lost every one, Harribel could easily beat the crap out of you, and Cirucci was the Cuatro before she was demoted. Face it, by your own words, if you can't beat a woman than you suck!"

Nnoitra growled and opened his mouth to retort when he was interrupted by the Espada across from him, Szayel Aporro Granz, Octava Espada, aspect of death: Madness. "I know that you may not be the smartest one here, Nnoitra." Szayel said, causing the Quinto growl louder. "But even you should realize that you will probably die the second you say one of your usual sexist comments, having a woman right next to you." Nnoitra stopped growling and looked to his left to see Tia Harribel, Tercera Espada, aspect of death: Sacrifice. His blonde superior was glaring at him, her hand seeming to twitch as if she was _waiting_ for him to give her an excuse to kill him. "Not to mention that your yelling is annoying the most powerful one here when he is already more tired then usual and right next to you as well." Szayel continued. The now nervous Sexta turned to his right to see Starrk had turned his head, keeping it on the table, and locking an annoyed pale blue eye with Nnoitra's dark gray one.

Now sweating, Nnoitra sat back down, glancing worriedly between the Tercera and Primera. Seeing the Quinto's fear, Yammy once again burst into laughter, but was silenced by a glare from the usually relaxed Starrk. After Yammy had stopped his laughter and sat down as well, the Primera glare at every other Espada, daring them to make a noise. At getting no sound, Starrk turned back to the table and seemed to relax again. "What does a guy need to do to get some sleep around here?" He questioned himself quietly.

After a moment of tense silence, the door once again opened and Aizen, along with his two shinigami comrades, walked in. "Hello, my dear Espada." The ex-captain said as he sat down, his usual smile in place. "I see that you have returned, Ulquiorra. How did it go?"

"As expected, Aizen-sama." The Cuatro's emotionless voice answered. "While there are multiple sources of reiatsu present, very few of them are anything of importance."

"Do you mind showing us?" Aizen asked. Wordlessly, Ulquiorra brought one of his hands up and brought it to his face. Without any sign that it hurt, he grasped his right eye and pulled it out of its socket. Holding the eye for a moment, he crushed it in his hand, creating a cloud of sparkling dust. The dust floated around the room and circled the heads of everyone there as they got a far away look. "Very interesting."

"What they hell is with all the hollows?" Yammy asked, a surprisingly good question, considering whom it was from. "Did someone use bait again?"

"No, not that I'm aware of." The Cuatro answered, keeping his now empty right eye closed. "You are about to see what caused all the hollows to come to the living world." Despite his strange feeling, Ulquiorra decided that he had to show them Kagome anyway, he still didn't know why he wouldn't, but it felt like he was betraying someone by showing them.

While the Espada were confused as to what he meant, they stayed silent as they watched the events unfold. The technique Ulquiorra used not only allowed them to see what he did, but also what he heard and felt. So, when the giant pillar of light filled their vision, they felt the exact same feeling of power that it gave off, one that none of them had felt before. All of the Espada visibly stiffened at the strange feeling; even Starrk was jolted out of his sleep. Nnoitra seemed to be frozen in place, Harribel eyes were wider then what should be possible, Szayel was shaking in his seat, Grimmjow had lost the ability to breathe, Baraggan Luisenbarn, Segunda Espada, aspect of death: Aging, was gripping the sleeves of his coat hard enough for his fingers to hurt. The three shinigami on the other hand, barely had any reaction at all. Aizen simply quirked an eyebrow, Gin tilted his head to the side, and Tosen didn't react at all.

"What… the hell was that?" Yammy managed to get out once the pillar of light faded from their vision and the power left. Instead of getting an answer they watched through Ulquiorra's eyes as he leapt across the buildings and found the young child fighting off three average hollows, followed by the unconscious woman waking up.

"Ah, yes, Ms. Higurashi if I'm not mistaken." Aizen said, surprising Ulquiorra, not that he showed it.

"You know her?" The Cuatro asked, having a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, though he didn't know why. Unknown to him, a few of the other Espada were having similar feelings.

"Yes, that is the other reason I called for this meeting." Aizen said, leaning forward in his chair and lacing his fingers together in front of his mouth. "I believe it is time to inform you of a spy that I have inside Seireitei." This only added to the Espada's surprise, a spy _within_ Seireitei. That shouldn't be possible. While the shinigami stronghold was already next to impossible to get into, to be a hollow of any kind and not be able to be found out with hundreds of shinigami running around twenty-four seven, there shouldn't be anyone who could go unnoticed. "I know what you are thinking, but the spy has the uncanny ability to completely suppress her reiatsu to a point where not even _I_ could sense her. To further the point, she is able to report to us within minutes of finding something without leaving Soul Society or even opening a Garganta."

"If I may, Aizen-sama." Said Aaroniero Arrurerie, Noveno Espada, aspect of death: Greed, his child like voice easily heard from behind his mask. "But who is this spy of yours? She seems to be quiet powerful if she can do all that you said she can." The Noveno finished with his voice becoming very deep and rather ominous sounding.

"You should remember her, Aaroniero." Aizen said to the oldest of the Espada. "You were here when the previous Tercera was in power." Nnoitra and Szayel stiffened at the mentioning of the Espada that vanished from Las Noches long ago, but it went unnoticed by the others. Aaroniero seemed to think it over for a moment, though it was hard to tell because of his oddly shaped mask that he wore.

"Ah, yes, that one Fraccion, I completely forgot about her. She may not have been very good in combat but there was no one better at stealth then her." The Noveno said, his voice changing once again. "I've always wondered why she didn't leave with the Tercera and her two fellow Fraccion."

"She claimed to not knowing what happened to them." Szayel reminded them. "Then again, no one really knows what happened, they just disappeared one day, leaving us and our current spy behind."

"As much as I wish they didn't." Nnoitra grumbled, causing Harribel's hand to twitch again and inch towards the sword on her back. "She was almost as annoying as that bitch she served under." It was then that the Tercera's finger looped around the ring in her sword's hilt that she used to pull it from its sheath.

"Nnoitra, you shouldn't bring up your personal opinions that have nothing of importance while Aizen-sama is talking." Said Zommari Leroux, Septima Espada, aspect of death: Intoxication, opening his eyes and stopping his meditation for the first time in this meeting.

"May we get back on track now?" Aizen asked, his smile deceiving no one, as they knew he would probably kill them if they didn't comply. "Good. Now then, I know that most, if not all of you are familiar with my spy, so you most likely know the vague description of her abilities. While she was there, she witnessed a peculiar person come to Soul Society, the same one Ulquiorra met, Ms. Kagome Higurashi." Aizen then turned to his left. "Tosen, if you would."

The blind man nodded and reached into his long coat, taking out a cross of all things. The cross was about the size of a frisbee and a dark gray in color with a white border that seemed to be made out of bones. Those of the Espada, who knew the spy, recognized the object. "How could I have forgotten about those?" Came the rhetorical question from Starrk. When the others looked to him with a confused expression, he continued. "Lilynette would always ask if she could use one of those to send it to me as an alarm clock, and an annoying one at that."

"As is one of my spy's powers, one that is very helpful in this situation." Aizen spoke again as Tosen placed the cross on the table. "While she can send these almost anywhere, it is hard to get an exact location as to where it will end up, which is what I needed Yammy for." The Diez grumbled something under his breath about annoying scavenger hunts but other wise stayed quiet. "This particular cross appeared somewhere in Hueco Mundo, and contains my spy's latest report."

The ex-captain then touches the center of the cross with his index finger and the bone-like border glows slightly. A moment later a voice was heard, seeming to come from the cross.

"Monthly report number nine, status: undetected and uninjured." Came an obviously feminine voice, one that was heard as clearly as if the person was in the room. "I have done as you have requested and drew the one known as Kagome Higurashi…" The voice then paused here, as if she thought of something else. "…Sorry, I drew her out of Soul Society as you had requested. I fear that some of those that are more familiar with the captain-commander are beginning to suspect the change in his behavior as being from an outside force. After I have sent this report I will be following a captain who was once a student of the captain-commander in hopes to get a better idea of how much they know. I am almost certain that they do not know of my being here, but there are still some places that I cannot enter so I do not fully know. My control on the captain-commander is going unhindered, but he is beginning to fight back, much to my annoyance. I have also looked into the matter of the human Inoue Orihime as you have requested, and I have proven your theory correct. Her healing technique is indeed not a healing technique at all, but rather it seems to reverse time."

Many of the Espada were surprised by this, reversing time being done by a _human_; this really was an interesting meeting. Even Starrk found himself wanting to listen.

"_I do not know the extent of the girl's power, as I am getting this information from the journal of the Fourth Squad Captain, but it can most likely restore a great number of serious injuries that would otherwise be lethal or crippling. I will remain here and look into both matters, though the captain-commander fighting against my control may slow down my progress. If you have any other orders, record them into this cross and I will call it back forty-eight hours after its arrival. Until next time, Aizen-sama."_

With that, the voice stopped and the bones on the cross stopped glowing and Aizen spoke again. "As you can see, my spy is quiet good at what she does. She has been there for nine months now, starting back when I was still 'loyal' to Seireitei, and she has never been caught. Even going so far as to controlling old Yamamoto's body to get Ms. Higurashi out into the living world."

"Can I ask something?" Grimmjow asked, leaning forward in his chair. "I haven't been here as long as most of you guys so mind telling me what it is the chick you have can do?"

Tosen stiffened and was about to yell at the Sexta for interrupting Aizen, when Starrk surprised them all by answering. "She can record sound into crosses like the one you just saw then teleport it almost anywhere, even from Seireitei to here. She can also control someone else's body, though last time I checked she could only do it to one person at a time and it's hard to keep up. I think she has a few other abilities, but I can't remember them right now."

"Correct." Aizen said once again. "Now, in a little over a month, I will send a team out to retrieve Inoue Orihime and to test the power of this Kagome. As I'm sure noticed, the power she has is much different than any of you have seen before, and, as long as she is affiliated with Soul Society, then we will have to know the extent of this power. I will be deciding the who goes on the mission within a few days, until then, good day."

With his last words, the three Shinigami left, followed soon by the other Espada. Out in the many halls of the desert castle, Ulquiorra was walking towards his quarters, easily ignoring all that was around him. Before he could get on any one train of thought, someone grabbed his shoulder and turned him around to bring him face-to-face with one Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez.

"May I help you?" Came Ulquiorra's emotionless voice, truly uncaring of what the Sexta had to say.

"Why did you let them live?" Grimmjow asked, removing his hand from the other Espada's shoulder, lest he lose it. "The humans, you saw all of them, they have far more reiatsu then a human should."

"Do not take me for a fool, Grimmjow." The Cuatro said, causing Grimmjow to flinch slightly. "I know that you do not care for the humans and are only going to use this as an attemp to get to Kurosaki." The Sexta stood straight, but did not deny it, which was practically a confession. "When I showed you him fighting the hollows, he looked like a strong a opponent, so you wish to fight him, am I right?" Again, Grimmjow did not answer. "I thought so." The Cuatro then turned and walked away from the growling Sexta.

Grimmjow turned on his heels and headed for his own quarters to find his Fraccion. "Those humans can easily become a problem in our plans with how quickly they're growling." He thought, gritting his teeth. "I'll kill everyone in that damn town that even has an ounce of reiatsu in them, they will not be allowed to go against Aizen's plans."

* * *

"Kaa-chan, where are we going?"

Kagome chuckled quietly at the young kitsune's words. "Why do you call me that, Shippo?" She said, looking down to the demon that was walking next to her, his hand gripping tightly onto her own. "You've never called me that before."

Shippo grew a sad look. "You're the only one who I call family now, everyone else just ignores me now. Plus, you've always acted like I think a mother does." He tried to bring up a memory of what his birth mother used to do, but couldn't; only worsening his mood.

Kagome frowned as well, and then remembered something from many years ago, well, for her it was many years ago. She smiled brightly and bent down, scooping the surprised Shippo up into her arms. "Hey, how about we go get some candy and you can tell me al about what its like back with the others, okay?"

"Yay, candy!" Shippo yelled, throwing his arms into the air. "Candy from your time always tastes good!" Kagome laughed at the child's antics, she really was sad to leave him behind, but it couldn't be helped. Now, she wouldn't let go of her baby ever again.

"Wait! My baby? Where did that come from?" She mentally screamed, then looked back down to the kitsune in her arms chanting 'Candy, candy, let's get candy!' and smiled. "Oh well, I don't see why not, especially if the others truly don't care for him anymore like he said, then I'll gladly let him call me that."

"Candy it is then." Kagome said smiling. "Now hold on, okay? This is going to be a rough ride."

Shippo looked confused, but nodded nonetheless. "Whatever you say, Kaa-chan." He then looped his small arms around her neck. Kagome nodded and gripped the child tighter.

"Here we go."

She started off at a fast walk down the street, then into a light jog, changing to a slow run, and finally into an all out sprint. Her feet became a blur as she ran down the practically deserted streets of Karakura Town. _"I may not be able to use that shunpo thing that I heard of, but I can still run pretty damn fast."_ She thought, looking down to the surprised Shippo in her arms. She laughed at his expression, and then remembered something. _"Aokakesu said that I had the powers of a demon, I wonder…"_

Kagome then closed her eyes, somehow not crashing while doing so. Trying to concentrate on anything that felt like a demon inside of her, something she had never done before, she looked to see if her friend was correct. Finding the feeling rather easily, she drew upon the power, only having to wait a moment.

"Ah!" Came Shippo's cry in alarm at seeing his surrogate mother's feet. "Kaa-chan, you're feet!"

Kagome opened her eyes again and looked to see her feet her on fire. "Looks like I was right, just like Kirara's powers, I don't even feel the heat. Makes sense since she's part of me now. Let's see what these can do."

"Don't worry, Shippo." She said in a soothing tone, the young demon looking up to her. "Just trying something new out." Shippo seemed to accept that and relaxed in the woman's arms again.

Kagome legs became visible again as she began to move across the ground in a way that looked like she was skating. Her feet were unable to be seen within the bright orange-red flames. She was easily going at twice her previous speed, yet she had no problems seeing perfectly, something she found strange, but she wasn't complaining. Seeing a rather tall building up ahead, she jumped into the air, testing another part of her demon abilities: flight.

Continuing the skating motion, she climbed through the skies. "I don't even need to use any reiatsu to stay up here!" She realized. "I'm not even trying and yet I can move faster than ever before!" She then grew a sad smile on her face. "I really do have to thank Kirara for all of this."

She soon arrived at the roof of the skyscraper and, with a rather simple thought, extinguished the flames around her feet and stepped onto the concrete surface. She sat down on the edge of the building and released her grip on the kitsune, letting him sit in her lap. "Whoooooa." Shippo said out loud, looking across the large, almost city sized town. "This is what its like in your time, Kaa-chan?" He looked back up to the black haired woman.

"I guess it is now, huh?" She said, much to the kitsune's confusion.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to guess what his surrogate mother meant. "I thought that you lived here."

Kagome sighed, she knew this was coming. "Shippo, what do you think happened to me after I fell off the cliff?"

Shippo took up a rather cute thinking pose. "I… guess that you had survived and trained somewhere, got a sword, and then came back… only to leave right after." He finished in a sad tone, looking away from the woman

She hated seeing him sad. "Well, you're half right, though at the same time, very off." She said with a frown. "When I fell off the cliff… I did die." Shippo looked up at her in surprise, but before he could say anything, she continued. "For lack of being able to explain it better, I'll just say that I came back to life. Though I was very far away, and I had this sword with me." She said, gesturing to the sword tied to her waist. "She is part of my soul, and a very good friend of mine. Her name is Aokakesu."

"Why do you talk about your sword like it's a person?" Shippo asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Because I am."

"Ah!" Shippo screamed, nearly jumping off Kagome's lap and falling off the building. "Who are you?" He shouted at the new comer that appeared out of nowhere.

"I believe that Kagome had just said that."

"Did you really have to scare him like that?" Kagome asked, turning to the white-haired woman.

"I did not intend to frighten the child, it just happened." The new comer than turned to Shippo. "Anyways, my name is Aokakesu, I am Kagome's sword."

"And don't forget about me!"

Shippo turned once again, only to be tackled by a small figure and back away from the ledge and onto the roof. The sundress-wearing figure landed on top of Shippo as they both lay there.

"Hey there Shippo." The figure said, smiling brightly and showing a pair of long canines.

"How are you?" Shippo stared at the blond girl for a moment in confusion before her scent invaded his nose and eyes widened.

"Kirara? Is that you?"

"Of course it is silly." Kirara replied, standing up and offering a hand to Shippo. "Who else do you know that has eyes like me?"

"Since when could she materialize herself?" Kagome asked her white-haired zanpakuto as Shippo took the outstretched hand and stood up, where he began to talk with the childish cat demon. "She's been with me for less than an hour, how does that make any sense?"

Aokakesu just shrugged her shoulders as she smiled to the two demons, she always did liked children. "No idea, maybe because she had no form as a sword, she can easily create a physical body."

"Works for me." Kagome said, the to everyone. "Alright, who here wants candy?"

"We do!" The two instantly shouted.

"Alright then, we better hurry before the stores close."

* * *

Within Seireitei, a figure dashed from shadow to shadow in night-covered streets. None of the patrolling shinigami saw or even sensed its presence, something she took to the full advantage. The figure jumped over one last wall and came into a boxed in grassy field with a large old-styled house with the sign reading 'One' hanging over the entrance. Without a moment's hesitation, the figure dashed past the guards and into the barracks. Trailing through the shadows, it arrived at a large door.

Opening the door only slightly, it saw a large room with only a single desk, currently being occupied by one elderly old man. Finding that there was only one person in the room, the figure soundlessly entered the room and closed the door behind it. The figure then straightened up and relaxed, the old man continued scribbling away at his paperwork, not taking notice to the figure.

"So, how are things with you, captain-commander?" The figure asked, its voice showing that it's feminine. The old man she addressed didn't show any sign that he had heard her. "Paperwork? Again? How can you stand all of that?" She asked seriously, truly curious. Again, Yamamoto didn't reply. "Anyway, I heard that you got a Jigokucho from the living world recently, mind sharing it with me?"

The figure then went to the desk and held out a finger as a black butterfly landed on it. She stared at the insect for a moment before scowling as the butterfly flew away. "So, Kagome has gone rouge, huh. I should inform Aizen-sama of this." The woman then shook her head, like she was trying to remember something. _"Kagome… why do I feel like I know you?"_ She then shook her head again, more violently this time to drive the strange thought away. Looking back up at the clock, she saw that it had been forty-eight hours since she gave her last report. _"Might as well do it now."_

She then reached into her white, black trimmed boot and pulled out her zanpakuto. It was a long, almost two-foot long combat knife. It had a slight curve to the blade while the guard was an intricate pattern of small femur bones. The grip was a dark gray while the pommel was a small skull. She held the knife in front of her face with the blade pointing upwards. **"Chime, Maldito de Timbre."** She said the words to release her zanpakuto and transform into her _Resurreccion_ form. The woman had not given off even the smallest amount of reiatsu during her transformation, one of her more favorable abilities. She held her now empty right hand out, its fingers noticeably longer and webbed. She took a deep breath to help her concentrate before using her next move. **"Fantasma Mesanje."** She said calmly.

There was a flash of light from her palm, leaving a cross as it faded, the same cross that was in Aizen's meeting room only moments before. Pressing her elongated index finger to the center of the dark gray object, resulting in a glow, followed by an unmistakable voice.

"_Thank you for the in formative report."_ Came Aizen's crystal clear voice. _"I have taken what you had said under consideration and have decided that if it is more important that you remain to have control over Yamamoto. For this reason, I am telling you to eliminate those who have a history with the man. The three that come to mind would be Sajin Komamura, Jushiro Ukitake, and Shunsui Kyoraku. You should dispose of them as soon as possible if you are unable to control more than one person at a time. Until next time, my friend."_

The figure sighed as the recording stopped and the glowing faded. She didn't like to kill, especially the innocent. While she was a hollow through and through, she never liked killing, at least not humans. Other hollows she had not trouble killing, shinigami she would try to avoid doing so, but humans, she never once killed one, and she wouldn't start anytime soon. _"If Aizen-sama wishes so, then I will do it."_

She turned towards the door when a knock came from it, thinking quickly, she jumped up, stepping onto one of the wooden beams that lined the ceiling to watch for whom it was.

"Hey, you in here, Yama-jii?" Came a slightly drunken voice. The figure watched the still closed door and mentally commanded Yamamoto to answer.

"I'm here, Shunsui."

The door opened to reveal the Eight Squad Captain, wearing his normal straw hat and pink haori. "Yama-jii, we got to talk." The captain said. "You've been acting weird lately, and I have no idea why." The figure made no command this time and Yamamoto remained quiet. "Just tell me what's going on." Shunsui continued, but once again got no response. "Yo, Yama-jii, you in there?"

The figure quietly sighed. _"I'm sorry, but I have to do this." _Each elongated finger on her right hand grew a long, thin blade. _"Rest in peace, shinigami-san."_

"Yama-jii? Why you so quiet all of a sudden?"

He never noticed the figure jump off a ceiling beam behind him, bladed hand poised to strike.


	21. Night

**AN:** Ok, new chapter FINALLY!

To clear a few things up, the resurreccion that I made up for Sango, it can be roughly translated to _Cursed Bell  
_It's weird, I know, but just roll with it

Read & Review  
Enjoy

* * *

**Night**

"Well, that sucked."

That pretty much summed it up; either that or it was a severe understatement, she wasn't sure which.

Sango walked through the dense forest that surrounded the place that was once the village where she and her family had lived. The battle with Naraku was an intense one, no doubt about that. She gave the bastard hell, but she didn't remember the ending now. She no longer had the Jewel Shard so it was obvious that she had lost. The strange thing was that she didn't have a single injury. So one of three things must have happened. One, he memories of the battle, meaning those where she had been injured, was wrong. This was a possibility, though she didn't see how it could have happened. Two, someone had healed her and then left before she had woken back up. Again, she didn't see how this could have happened, she knew of no one who could heal injuries like the ones she had, some of which were _very_ bad, and she doubted that Naraku would have helped so who would have left her there? Three, she was in an illusion of some kind and the whole fight had never happened. She was actually hopping that this was the case, as it would be preferable over any other ideas, being crazy being one of them.

I mean, how else would you describe some of the things she had been seeing. One that was very depressing was that she couldn't find her boomerang, or even her other hidden weapons and supplies for that matter, and she _never_ went anywhere without Hiraikotsu. She still had her armor on, but her kimono had disappeared as well, much to her confusion.

A sharp pain interrupted her thoughts as she screamed out and collapsed on her knees. The pain went away after almost a minute and Sango's screams ceased. "W-what was t-that?" She said out loud as she shakily got back to her feet. It had been the third time that she had felt that pain, a pain that she couldn't compare to anything she had ever even heard of. "That lasted much longer than the other two, what is this thing?" She then looked down at the thing that she guessed was the cause of this strange and unbearable pain.

A chain coming from here chest.

She shivered when she saw the last few links on the chain had grown mouths and were eating the metal off the rest of the chain. She had a tingling sensation that felt like a weaker version of the great pain she had felt before. It seemed that at random intervals, the chain would grow a few more mouths and they would eat the chain quicker, thus causing the pain. She had not seen how may mouths had appeared on the chain in her last course of pain, not looking down quick enough before all coherent thoughts were useless, but if the length of time it took was any indication then it she was glad she didn't see it.

She wasn't even sure how long she had been here, days maybe. As soon as she had woken up she had begun looking for the camp that the rest of her little group had set up, but had no luck. Her battle had knocked her far into the forest and she couldn't seem to figure out where she was. _"Well, at least things couldn't get any worse."_

As if on cue, she exited the tree line to find herself in a clearing, one that was familiar to her it two ways. The first being that it was the same field that she and Kohaku had spent a large amount of their time together, it had since become inhabited by flowers, lilies by the looks of it. The second, and less pleasant memory she had here was that this was where her and Naraku had ended up in their most resent battle.

"Oh, just great." Sango let out a loud sigh and fell back to sit on the ground. "I've just been going in circles." Looking around the ravaged field, she spotted something in the distance. _"Wait, it that…"_ Standing back up to get a better look, she saw that the object was in fact her more favored weapon. _"Hiraikotsu!"_

Running towards her giant, and quiet heavy boomerang, she reached it fairly quickly and reached for it, but froze inches from the handle. On the ground next to the boomerang was an arm. Puzzled by the sight, she followed the arm to its body, clad in demon slayer armor.

Sango's eyes widened and her pupils dilated as she once again fell down, shifting back to get away from the corpse, _her_ corpse. She started to hyperventilate and she clutched her chest on instinct, only to meet the cold metal that was the base of the chain. Forgetting about the torn up body, she looked back down to the three-foot long chain. _"Does this mean that I'm… I'm… Dead?"_

Seeming to react to her distress, the chain began to twitch and two of the three feet that made up the end of the chain bulged slightly. _"No! Not that, not now!"_ From each bulge came another mouth, each drooling in anticipation. The mouths all attacked the chain, some even eating other mouths in doing so, the cut through the remains of the chain like a grinder, only making the girl's pain worse.

Sango screamed at the pain, collapsing on the ground and clutching her head, begging for unconsciousness, but she wouldn't have that pleasure. The mouths ate the entirety of the chain and the base that looked to be nailed into Sango's chest shattered, leaving a gapping hole in its wake.

Sango had a moment to breathe as the pain stopped, only to come back, ten fold.

She would have screamed, but something in her throat stopped her from doing so. She got on her hands and knees as the substance came out of her mouth. She could not see what it was as it moved up her face, only that it was a white liquid like substance before it covered her eyes.

Her last conscious thought before she was overtaken by darkness, was as she registered that the inhuman roar she heard, not having the time to realize she made it.

* * *

The figure quietly sighed. _"I'm sorry, but I have to do this." _Each elongated finger on her right hand grew a long, thin blade. _"Rest in peace, shinigami-san."_

"Yama-jii? Why you so quiet all of a sudden?"

The spy jumped down from the ceiling beams, her bladed fingers poised to kill the pink wearing shinigami captain. She thrust her hand forward to meet his neck, only for a fist to make contact with her own cheek with surprising strength. She grunted in pain and flew across the room and hitting the wooden wall opposite of the door, cracking it.

"Nahbudyth gonnadu tha tahmah friend."

"Ukitake?" Shunsui said, looking over his shoulder to the origin of the slurred voice, seeing none other than the Thirteenth Squad Captain, Ukitake, still drunk. "What are you doing here?" He then followed his friends still extended fist to the female lying against the wall, rubbing her sore jaw.

The arrancar grunted as she stood back up, the two captains taking a fighting stance, well Shunsui took a stance, Jushiro just stood there, swaying from side to side. Shunsui put a hand on either of his sword handles, glaring at the would-be assassin. He looked to the corner of his eye to see Yamamoto hadn't moved and inch and continued to stare into space.

"Yama-jii, what are you doing?" Shunsui asked, getting no response. "Get up already." Still nothing. Shunsui glared back at the arrancar with an unusual anger visible in his eyes. "What did you do to him?"

He slowly drew his one of his swords causing the now standing arrancar to flinch. _"No way I can take on two captain level shinigami, I could barely hold one if I wanted to."_ The spy thought, crouching down to charge or flee, which ever the situation called for. _"The old guy is still fighting against my control, I can't fight like this. At least one of them is drunk, that should make things easier."_ A small smirk then graced her lips. _"And at least I specialize in unfair fights. I just can't let them use any reiatsu or else the other shinigami will be alerted."_

"Ansuur Sudshi, wha dja du tah Yahma-jiiiiiii." Ukitake trailed off, his head tilting forward slightly as he seemed to fall asleep where he stood.

"_How can anyone get that drunk?"_ The spy thought, not knowing that the usually lazy captain was thinking the exact same thing. Shaking her head, the spy tilted her head back and took a deep breath. Taking advantage of the captain's momentary distraction, she called out her attack without giving off the slightest bit of reiatsu. **"Profano Cobrar (Unholy Call in)!"** She tilted her head forward in a screaming like motion and a shockwave shout from her open mouth.

As Shunsui was unable to put up a fast enough guard, not that it would have mattered, he was shot back to hit the wall beside the door that Jushiro had opened. Jushiro seemed to have woken up and clumsily pulled his sword from his waist and seemed to regain the ability to think properly, though his speech was still horrible. **"Ah Whaves Ries Nahan Behcumb mah-"**

He was cut off by the spy rushing him and slamming her open left palm into his stomach. Unlike her strange right hand, the spy's left hand was perfectly normal. **"Voz Baja (Undertone)!"** Her hand seemed to vibrate slightly and the drunken captain and he skidded back, slumping over as he going to sleep again, the katana falling from his hand as he clutched his stomach where the spy had hit him.

"**Flower Wind Rage and Flower God Roar, God Roar Heavenly Wi-"**

The spy looked to see Shunsui standing once again, about to release his zanpakuto. The spy cursed as the reiatsu given off would bring every shinigami the whole damn place down on her, no doubt his plan. **"Fantasma Mensaje (Unholy Phantom Message)!"** She called out, a forming a cross in her right hand before throwing at the captain, cutting him off as he dodged. **"Fantasma Mensaje!"** She called again, a cross forming between each of her fingers before she lobbed all but one of them at the captain.

Shunsui dodged all of the projectiles effortlessly and charged the woman, not noticing her press the middle of the cross still in her hand, causing it and one of the crosses behind him that he dodged to glow. She then disappeared with a quick _Sonido_, not giving off a reiatsu trail for him to track.

"Captain, behind you!" Came an unfamiliar voice from behind the captain.

Shunsui followed the voice on instinct and whipped around, holding his sword up in a guard, but nothing met it. Before he could think of an explanation, his back was slashed and he screamed, jumping away from the attacker and turning around again. The spy stood there, the blades having re-emerged from her fingers on her right, webbed hand and dripping with blood. The cross was now in her left hand no longer glowing, though Shunsui still did not take notice of it. The captain rushed forward to the arrancar that still perfectly still, making no notion to dodge.

"Get back! It's not real!" The still unknown voice again.

Again, on pure instinct, Shunsui stopped his charge and jumped back to get away from the 'fake' arrancar. Whether he listened to it because he thought the voice was friendly or because it was that of a woman's, even he didn't know. The 'fake' arrancar then rushed forward and buried her left fist in the captain's gut. **"Voz Baja!"** Her fist vibrated again and Shunsui screamed and jumped back, coughing out a torrent of blood in the process.

The two stood, staring at one another. Shunsui risked a glance to Jushiro, who was unconscious on the floor, either that or finally asleep from his drunken stupor, his arms still around his stomach where the spy had punched him. He looked back to the woman who remained unmoving. _"I have to figure out what that attack does, that was no normal punch."_ The captain thought, ignoring the pain in his gut. _"It doesn't feel like she broke anything, but I'll bet anything that I have severe internal bleeding. And that cross…"_

Shaking out of his thoughts, he rushed again, the pain slowing him down. The spy once again showed her talent at agility by jumping up and grabbing a beam along the ceiling, spinning around it like an acrobat would. Shunsui quickly turned around and jumped to attack again before she could recover.

"Below you!" Came the voice again.

Once more, Shunsui turned his blade down and the spy moved to kick him. In a blur, Shunsui drew his other sword that he had kept sheathed this entire time and struck it into the spy's stomach. They both crashed to the ground with the captain on top and the spy screamed in pain. Shunsui then brought his other sword down and stabbed the woman's right forearm, nearly severing the limb and rendering it useless.

The woman screamed again, this being one of those times where she wished that she had a stronger_ Hierro_. "So… finally figured it out, huh?" The spy said, her voice being the same as the one that had 'warned' Shunsui three times before. "Should have seen the feint coming, I was pushing it anyway." She then went into a coughing fit, blood dripping down her cheek.

"What did you do to Yama-jii?" Shunsui asked.

The spy looked Shunsui over before attempting to grab at him with her still working left hand, only for him to step on it, pinning it to the ground as well. She grunted in pain before sighing loudly. "Worth a shot I guess." She said, trying to move her right hand, it still didn't work anyway. "Oh well, I knew I would lose anyway. As for the old man, don't worry, he's in there, somewhere anyway. And I know what you're thinking, no I won't release him, it'll go away once you kill me anyway so go ahead and get it over with." She was internally wondering why the captain commander wasn't fighting her control anymore, though if she had to guess, it was probably because he watched the whole thing and saw that she was about to die anyway so he wasn't even trying anymore.

Shunsui looked down at her, though he knew he should just kill her, his curiosity got the better of him. "What was that punch of yours?"

The spy looked at him strangely but answered anyway. "I am able to control sound in different ways. One is to send sound waves through my hands that rupture a persons blood vessels and organs on contact."

"And the others?"

Again, the spy looked at him oddly but still answered. "I can project my voice through these crosses without even speaking and give off a shockwave from my mouth. Then the one you're probably most concerned with, I can use sound waves to take over someone's conscious and control them." She then sighed again. "Problem is that it only works on one person at a time and if I use their reiatsu at all then its easier for them to fight back."

Shunsui remained silent, trying to figure out why she was saying all of this. "What's your name?"

The spy raised an eyebrow. "Sango Kuwashima." A smirk crossed her lips as she regained feeling in her right arm. "I'm sorry about all of this, I really am." The captain narrowed his eyes dangerously at her words. "I really don't like fighting, nor do I really like Aizen anyway, but I refuse to die until I find someone." She then grabbed his leg before he could do anything. **"Voz Baja!"**

Shunsui screamed again as the blood vessels in his leg were practically destroyed and he stumbled back, tripping over his injured foot.

Sango walked up to the downed captain, picking up one of the crosses that littered the floor, and standing over him. The internal bleeding was affecting his brain and it seemed he was temporarily unable to move. She looked down at him with a sad expression; she really didn't like to kill. "Goodbye, shinigami-san." She raised her right hand to finish off the captain, blades once again coming from the fingertips. A thought passed through her head, more like a signal of something being broken. Unfortunately, she knew exactly what it was and froze, eyes widened. "Shit."

"**Reduce All Creation to Ash, Ryujin Jakka."**

* * *

Toshiro sat in his office chair, paperwork done and previously drunken lieutenant asleep on the couch, snoring loudly. A scowl marred the child size captain's face as the Jigokucho fluttering out the open window into the night.

"_Kagome left."_ Her turned to look out the window to the night sky. _"Something isn't right, she had no reason to do so. The only thing I can think of is that Yamamoto had done something…"_ He then turned to look at the Squad One barracks that were easily seen from where he sat. "Yamamoto…"

Something had changed about the man, he just couldn't place it. He seemed more… strict. That was a good word to describe it, as he could think of nothing else that would do so. Toshiro then saw something flicker in one of the windows of the barracks in the distance. He narrowed his eyes as it flashed by again. He didn't know what room it was, but judging from how high it was in the building it was probably the lieutenant's or even the captain-commander's office.

Suddenly, an explosion racked through the area, a large fireball destroying the roof of the building he had been watching. It was so large that the shockwave knocked him out of his seat and shattered the windows of his office.

Jumping back to his feet, Toshiro looked out the shattered window to see the top of the Squad One barracks a blaze, a human like figure standing amongst the flames. He glanced back at his lieutenant, she was still sleeping. _"I've got to learn how she does that, much nicer then rushing into a burning building."_ With that he disappeared from his office with a quick Shunpo.

* * *

The seen on the grounds in front of the burning barracks was a rather intimidating one that would have any, if not all, hollows running in fear. Every captain that was still loyal to Soul Society, minus Soifon and Jushiro, were standing in a rough circle around the intruder with all of them gripping their blades, Shunsui back up and blades drawn and Yamamoto already having released his shikai.

For said intruder, one Sango Kuwashima, she very much wanted to run in fear, she was just smart enough to know that she would live longer if she stayed put, not that she would live longer either way. Again, knowing that she had no chance, she did not bother taking a fighting stance, instead choosing to simply stand there and wait. While she was one of the better hollows at opening a _garganta_, being able to do so in a few seconds flat, the second she even tried she would either be impaled, dismembered, burnt to a crisp, or all of the above. There was no hope in surviving to becoming a prisoner, she could see the anger in the captain-commander's eyes that that was true, her only hope was to create distraction, open a garganta, escape, and hope that Aizen wouldn't kill her for failing. Even worse, the pain from her stomach wound made it impossible to concentrate. She could escape, yes, but it was unlikely that she would end up where she wanted to go, she couldn't even suppress her reiatsu like usual.

"Any last words." Yamamoto said, flames circling around his body.

Sango chuckled lightly, causing her to wince at her injury. "So, you're actually letting me say that much, huh? Well I'm surprised, considering all the crap I had you do." The arrancar then glanced to her side to see Shunsui standing, admittedly with difficulty, but standing nonetheless. "I'm glad you're still alive, shinigami-san." She then looked back to the burning building. "I hope the drunk one is alive as well, I really don't like to kill."

"The why did you do it?" Asked the Squad Eight Captain.

"Why else? Orders. If Aizen-sama tells me to kill then I will do so, if he tells me to fight I will not hold back. Hell, Yamamoto was there when I was given the order to kill you, not to mention quiet a few other orders." Most of the captains looked at Yamamoto with a suspecting eye as he didn't deny any of the claims. Sango just sighed as she saw the looks. "He's not a traitor you idiots, he was under my control and couldn't do anything on his own for the past few months, he just happened to hear them because he was there when I decided to listen to my orders."

"Wait, you were controlling him? Does that mean that you made all the orders he made were by you?"

Sango glanced behind her to see it was Byakuya of all people who spoke up. "Yes."

"Including all of the orders for Kagome?" Asked Toshiro.

Sango looked at the small captain, inwardly smirking, she had seen the few interactions between Kagome and Toshiro, they were friends, and if Toshiro was anything, he was protective of his friends. _"Hello distraction."_ Keeping her serious face, she glanced at the captain. "Yes." She answered simply, gripping the cross in her left hand, it being her only weapon available, the blades in her right fingers along with most of said arm burnt badly but still usable.

Toshiro grit his teeth and tightened his grip on his already draw blade. "And, do you know that she just went rouge?"

"Yes, actually. It's surprising how quickly the captain-commander gets a Jigokucho compared to the other captains." She gave a small smirk as she saw Toshiro grip his long katana tighter. "I even know _why_ she did so." Sango lied smoothly, Soifon had left that out of the report so she knew Toshiro didn't know either. The arrancar was curious why Kagome left though, she even had a few theories. "And, I can tell you now, she will _never_ come back here. For all I know Aizen-sama will give her a place within his army, I can guess that she will be very helpful."

Just as she predicted, the white-aired captain finally snapped and rushed forward. Fortunately for Sango though, he let anger could his vision and rushed rather blindly so he didn't notice her press the center of the cross she held, causing it to glow slightly.

"Captain, stop!"

Like so many before him, Toshiro stopped less than five feet from his target at the warning of the voice that seemed to come from the burning building, noticing a moment later that it was the same voice as the woman he was attacking. He noticed to late though, as Sango had closed the distance and brought her right hand up and grabbed the boy's face.

"**Voz Baja!"**

Toshiro flew back, eyes rolling back, as blood flew from his nose, mouth, and ears. The life-giving liquid even dripped from his eyes like tears as he fell back on the ground. Whether he was unconscious or dead, no body knew.

Sango grabbed the downed captains sword by the blade, ignoring the pain as it cut into her palm. She then swung the blade in a arc, the chain she knew was there lashing out to Shunsui, the only captain who hadn't stopped at her call, and forcing him to stop his charge to block the chained sickle. The arrancar then dropped the blade and jumped back, away from the other captains, and opened a garganta. She entered the black void only to be blinded by light. Looking back, she saw a wave of impossibly hot flames searing towards her, the rip closing just before they made it through.

Sango lay there inside the black void, using the last of her reiatsu to stay afloat, her breathing trembling as she shakily stood up. She winced as the pain in her stomach finally got to her. She then turned around and silently walked through the darkness, barely keeping her reiatsu up enough to stay afloat.

"Well, that went better than expected."

* * *

"You should go to sleep, it's practically midnight."

"I don't wanna!"

"When was the last time you slept."

"… That's not important!"

"Yes it is."

"I can't fall asleep any- *yawn* anyway, I'm perfectly awake."

"Uh huh, sure you are."

"Besides, you're arms are too lumpy to sleep in."

Kagome stopped walking and looked down to the young kitsune in her arms with a smile that was far too sweet. "What was that?" She said in a sugar sweet voice.

Shippo began to sweat, easily seeing her hidden anger. "Uh, uh, I mean, uh, your, uh… sleeves! Yeah, you're sleeves! They are to rough, uh, they itch." He stuttered out, silently praying that she let it go.

Kagome stared at him for another minute, further scaring the child. "Well, I agree with you there, but don't think that you're out of this yet. If that was the reason you didn't want to fall asleep then you could have just said so. There may not be as much nature now as there used to be but there are some rather comfortable parks if you know where to look." With that, Kagome started to walk, err, jump again.

She was jumping because, as some might bluntly put it, if she was walked off the edge of a thirty story building then it wouldn't be pretty, she _might_ survive, being less than fully human, but it was not something most would want to, herself included.

Anyway, she was jumping from building top to building top in hopes of finding a good place to sleep. She had slept outside for a good five hundred years straight, and she knew that Shippo had done it on many occasions as well, being there for the majority of them and yelling at the one who was responsible for them having to sleep outside in the first place. While she did know of a couple good places, forests and such, to sleep in, the animals not a problem as most would think they would be, she had traveled to far into the city to know where one of those places would be.

For Shippo, it had been a very strange day, filled with many surprises. Now that he looked back on it, he really couldn't think of anything that happened today as bad. He was finally with Kagome again, and his surrogate mother sowed no signs as to wanting to let him go. Kirara could now talk, though he still wondered why she looked human now. But whenever he asked about that or many other things either, Kagome would just say that she would explain it later. Among those things would be the strange woman he met, what was her name again? Aoka-something. Anyway, he had met her once, very briefly, and then she and Kirara disappeared, literally! They just disappeared into thin air. But, again, whenever he asked his surrogate mother would just say she would explain it later. She would say the same thing if asked about her sword, the monsters from earlier, the man in white they had met, or that one woman who he saw briefly before she jumped away.

Shippo snuggled deeper into Kagome's arms, gaining a chuckle from the woman. While the fabric truly was uncomfortable, it was bearable, and her arms were much more comfortable than any place he had slept in recently, he simply didn't want to go to sleep. So much had happened in one day and he was truly happy for the first time in what felt like forever, he was afraid that if he went to sleep that it would all disappear on him.

His eyes grew heavy and he found it hard to stay awake. The last time he had slept had been on the other side of the well, more than twenty hours ago. Combined with all the running and fighting he had done, it was no wonder. With the rushing wind soothing his senses and ruffling his hair, he has finally overcome by darkness.

Kagome took another glance down at Shippo, a smile gracing her lips as she saw him asleep. Looking back up, lest she crash, the woman finally found a place that seemed like a good place to stay. It was a wide, possibly man-made river with a grassy hill on either side and a bridge running over it. The bridge didn't seem to be used often and there were very few street lights in the area, she was actually able to see a few stars in the night sky. Even better, it seemed this was one of the few places in the city that wasn't covered in litter. Kagome lay down under the bridge, her back propped up on the hard stone.

"Of course." She muttered with a sigh. Why were things always interrupting her now. She opened her eyes without moving. "Can I help you?" She asked the person interrupting her sleep.

The figure standing before her was a man, an arrancar at that. He was probably taller than she was with spiky blue air and dark blue eyes with green lines under them. What was left of his hollow mask covered his right cheek and jaw-bone. He wore a pair of white hakama pants and an open white jacket with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his rather muscular chest and hollow hole that was located in his abdomen. His sword was attached to his hip.

"Do you really have to be so rude?" Asked the man.

"Forgive me if I don't trust someone with a hole punched through their stomach right away." Kagome voice dripped with sarcasm. Though she was a normally trusting person, with recent events she was rethinking those ideals.

"Right, right." Said the man, giving out a sigh. He then spotted the child in the woman's grasp, fast asleep. "Who's the kid?"

"I have no reason to tell you that."

"Geez, you're cold."

"I'm just bitchy when I'm tired. As far as what I've heard I'm not alone in that aspect." Kagome then sighed to get the suppress her anger. "Sorry, but I'm really tired so can you say what you want and get over with it?"

The man looked her over, though she was unsure if she should hit him for doing so. "You're Higurashi, right?" Kagome quirked an eyebrow and silently nodded. "Name's Grimmjow, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez."

"Well that's a mouthful."

Grimmjow laughed. "That's all you got to say? Not, 'why are you hear', or 'what do you want with me', nothing like that?"

"I figured that you were going to say it anyway so I didn't bother asking." Grimmjow chuckled at this. "So, why are you here, now that you brought it up."

The arrancar stopped laughing and stared at Kagome, as if he was trying to see something. After a moment of silence he finally spoke. "Ulquiorra, no matter how much I hate the guy, he never leaves any detail out, that much I can respect." Kagome said nothing, simply waited for the blue haired man to get to the point. "He can do this thing where he shows everything that he saw, heard, and felt. When he was here earlier today, he felt the kind of power you gave off. When he got back he showed it to the others, myself included. It was… interesting."

"Interesting?" Kagome asked and the arrancar seemed to have a hard time thinking over his own words. "If you're trying to flatter me you're doing pretty bad job at it."

"It's not that, I just want to know what that power was. When I felt it, it made me jumpy, I couldn't quite place the feeling, and from the reactions of the other arrancar that were watching, it was pretty obvious that they felt the same."

Kagome stared at the man, having an internal debate. "I'm what is known as a _miko_, a priestess." Grimmjow's eyes widened slightly, though she doubted that he actually knew what that meant. "But, I'm to tired to show you anything right now and it would probably wake Shippo."

"Who?"

Kagome gave him a bored look and gestured to the sleeping child.

"Oh…"

Kagome sighed, why was it that every man out there had to be an idiot? Shippo was the only other person there, it was blatantly obvious who she was talking about. "Anyway, is there any other reason you're here, because I highly doubt that yo came here solely for little old me."

"There is someone I want to fight, I just don't know where he is."

"What's he look like?"

"Shinigami with a large sword and-"

"Ichigo." She cut him off, again looking bored. "Why am I not surprised he has enemies?"

"You know him?" Grimmjow asked, looking genuinely surprised.

"Not really, but I've seen a few shinigami and he's the only one I know of who's sword is actually considered _big_. It's more like an oversized butcher knife." Kagome once again ignored the arrancar's laugh, in favor of looking at the sleeping kitsune in her arms. "Are you here alone?" She suddenly asked.

"Uh, no. Why?"

"Who else is here?"

"My five subordinates, I told them to take out anyone in the city with even the slightest amount of reiatsu." He was unsure why he added the last part, but it was to late now.

Kagome simply quirked an eyebrow at this. "You're going to have a problem with that, you do know that right?"

"Why do you say that?"

"There's a captain and a lieutenant here, along with three ex-captain level shinigami. And I can sense your four subordinates, none of them stand a chance."

"I said there were five." Grimmjow said. In response, Kagome lifted a hand and pointed in a seeming random direction. When Grimmjow turned that way he saw a _very_ tall pillar, seeming to be made out of ice. A moment later the tower broke of and shattered.

"There were five, one just died." Kagome said, gaining the arrancar's attention back. "From what I can tell that was Rukia, there's a good chance that Ichigo is there as well. Good luck."

"You don't seem to worried." Grimmjow noted, turning around fully to where she had pointed.

"He doesn't stand a chance against you and I don't like him very much. So, once again, good luck."

Grimmjow smirked, interesting woman. He waved over his shoulder before disappearing with a _sonido_, leaving Kagome to wince at the sound it let off nearly destroyed her eardrums. _"Asshole"_

She would have cursed him out loud, but the sound also woke Shippo up, much to the kitsune's annoyance. "What was that?" He asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up, still in Kagome's arms.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." Kagome replied, trying to sooth the child, he really did need his sleep.

Shippo weakly nodded and was about to lay back down when his nose began to twitch and his face scrunched up. "Kaa-chan, I smell blood." He said, covering his nose with his small hands.

Kagome, who thought it was the blood of one of the distant battles, was surprised that Shippo could smell it from all the way over here. "Just try and ignore it, it doesn't concern us."

"But I know this smell, I know the person it came from." He then jumped out of Kagome's arms and onto the ground, looking around as if to pinpoint the source. "It smells just like-" He stopped as he looked into the distance, down river from their location, his eyes widened and breath catching in his throat.

Kagome followed his line of vision to see a bloody body on the shore, half submerged in the water. It was clad in arrancar style clothing with a sword laying next to it.

"Sango!"


	22. Alliance

**AN:** And we have another chapter, hooray for halloween, tastiest holiday ever!

In other news, I now have over a hundred reviews, I feel so special and thank you all.

I know this chapter is pretty short but I seem to be having writer's block, now I know what they mean when they say its annoying.

Enjoy

**

* * *

Alliance**

_Garganta_, a seemingly complicated technique used by hollows of all shapes and sizes, even a few shinigami managed to figure out how to use it. It is used to transport a being between the three worlds, those being the living world, Soul Society, and Hueco Mundo. Most shinigami don't bother to learn it because they already have their own way of traveling between the worlds and it is believed to be more dangerous. The _senkaimon_, as it is called, is, ironically, more dangerous than using the _garganta_, but few know this. While inside of a senkaimon, it is easy to get lost unless one has a jigokucho with them, if they don't then there is no hope for them to ever escape the pocket realm, thus they will slowly die. On the other hand, with a garganta, everywhere is an exit. It is common belief that if one were to fall off a the reiatsu path that they had made while inside of a garganta that they would fall into an endless abyss and never escape, thus why it is thought to be more dangerous. What actually happens is that you will be transported to an almost completely random location in any of the three realms. Granted, that location may be a mile above a volcano for all you know and you'll die anyway, but it is nearly impossible to get stuck in a garganta.

It is these facts that lead to the current situation that our protagonist is in currently. For, as one could guess, when one falls unconscious, they lose all ability to hold onto their control of reiatsu. And, whether on purpose or by pure luck, a certain injured arrancar spy had fallen unconscious inside of her own made _garganta_ and appeared on the shore of a river, one that was already occupied by two other beings.

"_Ugh, what hit me?"_

With these thoughts, Sango woke up to see the night sky above her, the feel of grass above her. She was aware of the pain in her gut, though her splitting headache was preventing her from remembering where she got it. She brought a hand to her head and looked to her left to see a bridge of some sort running over a river. She was then aware of a weight on her chest and looked down to see one thing she was not expecting, a child. The boy, looking no older than six, eight at most, was sitting on her chest and looking back her with wide, green silted eyes, seeming more innocent that menacing as they were probably supposed to be. His ears were pointed slightly and his bushy tail lay- wait, a tail!

Sango's eyes were drawn to said appendage as it lay limply on her stomach. Her mind instantly went to thinking he was a hollow, though to appear human he had to be at least an arrancar, vasto lorde at the least, and he was very small, even Lilynette wasn't that small. Her thoughts were interrupted by the… _thing_ speaking.

"Are you dead?"

Sango blinked, unsure of how to respond, this seemed to push the child to speak more, a voice that she found strangely familiar, though pushed it away.

"Kaa-chan said that some people come back to life after they die and that you were probably one of them."

Kaa-chan? Okay, defiantly not a hollow. It was impossible for a hollow to become pregnant, at least as far as Sango knew. So, what _was_ he? And, the just as important, if not slightly more so question; was he an ally?

"Shippo, you shouldn't be so rude." Came a voice to Sango's right. The arrancar looked to the voice and her eyes widened as she saw the tell tale uniform of a shinigami.

"_They found me!"_

She tried to get up, only to gasp in pain. Ignoring the stinging, she struggled to sit up, the child, Shippo, jumping off of her as she did so.

"You shouldn't move to much, Sango-chan." The voice she could now identify as a woman's said again. Ignoring it, the arrancar continued to struggle to sit up, but a soft hand pushed her back down, a sigh being heard. "Unless you want to get your injuries to get worse, I suggest you listen to me." Sango reluctantly listened and lay back down, knowing there was no way she could even beat a third seated officer in her current condition. She just had to stay put and endure the torture that sure to come or if they just kill her right away. The voice sighed again. "Great, you opened you wounds back up, now I'm going to have to redo your bandages."

Curious, Sango looked down, her vision no longer obscured by the child, and could see she was covered in a large blanket. Managing to lift one arm, her right arm bandaged and completely numb, she lifted to blanket and saw her stomach and right forearm and shoulder were wrapped in bandages, the ones over her stomach slowly reddening as her wound reopened. A moment later, Sango dropped the blanket and hugged it tightly to her bandaged body.

"Where are my clothes?" The arrancar shouted at the other woman who was sitting a few feet away.

The shinigami-clad woman just stared back at Sango before gesturing to the campfire in front of her, said missing articles hanging above the flames on a roughly made rack of sticks, not unlike one would use to cook food. "They were wet, you probably fell in the river." Was the reply Sango got. "You're just lucky I got some blankets for Shippo earlier or you would be lying there naked.

"_Okay, maybe she doesn't know I'm an arrancar and actually wants to help be out."_ Sango thought, seeing the woman show no ill intent as of yet.

"Hollow or not, walking around in wet clothes sucks."

"_Well there goes that idea."_

The group fell silent. Sango, not being able to move, lay there, staring at the sky, a few stars visible over the city lights. The child, Shippo, sat next to the other woman, starring at Sango with his wide, innocent eyes, unnerving her slightly. The woman, who was probably the child's mother, sat and stared into the small fire. That brought on another question. Though Sango did know much about shinigami, she assumed that they, like hollows, could not get pregnant, maybe she was wrong, but if she was then how did the child have a _tail_?

The silence was broken by a loud sigh, courtesy of the shinigami. "You really don't remember, do you?" She said, at seeing Sango's confused expression, she sighed again. "I guess I really am an odd ball, huh? I remember everything from when we were alive, but no one else does." The woman's gaze clouded over as she stared into the fire, the depression almost tangible. "I-I… I wonder if it's possible to regain your memories." She said, more to herself.

"What do you mean 'when _we_ were alive', I don't know you." The shinigami then turned to Sango, and the arrancar slightly gasped at getting a good picture of her face for the first time. Kagome, the woman who she drove out of Seireitei with her control over the captain-commander, but, did she know that.

"Your name is Sango Kuwashima, and I knew you when we were alive. You were one of the few people I could truly open up to and… We were like sisters."

* * *

"STARRK!"

"Dammit, how'd she even get up here?"

The Primera, in all his lazy glory, was previously sleeping atop the roof of Las Noches, thus causing his question. How could the small, childlike, and relatively weak arrancar that was his Fraccion make it to the roof of the desert castle? How did she even know he was here in the first place?

"STARRK! STOP BEING A LAZY ASS AND WAKE UP ALREADY!"

"_Oh well, to late now."_

The Primera began to lift himself up, as told, only to be kicked in the temple with a small, boot clad foot, flipping him over onto his stomach.

The attacker was Lilynette Gingerback, the one and only Fraccion of Starrk. She had the physical age of being ten, maybe eleven years old. Her hair was a lime green color and stopped at her chin. The remains of her hollow mask was a helmet that covered the top of her head like a hat and her left eye, a horn coming out of either side, though the one on the left seemed to have been cut. Her visible, right eye was a startling pink, almost radiating in color. Her hollow hole was visible just above her navel due to her rather… odd clothes. A scowl marred her childish face, more cute than intimidating.

"Ughhh." Was the Espada's elegant reply, muffled by the concrete he was previously resting on. "I was getting up, stop yelling." Though he made no attempt to get up this time, only turning slightly so his assaulter was I his vision, though not enough that another kick would hit his nose. "How did you get up here anyway? We're over five hundred feet in the air."

"That's not important!" The girl shouted back, but thankfully quieter. "I've been searching for you forever! You never even bothered to find me after the meeting!"

"It's only been a day."

"EXACTLY! That's like forever!"

Starrk let out another sigh; he would never be able to please this child, much like how he never thought he could please any woman in general. He was by no means anywhere near as sexist as Nnoitra, but it seemed that everything that he did would piss of every woman in a hundred foot radius, the fact that he never went near Harribel or her three, all female, Fraccion was just a precaution, one that usually proved to be ineffective, much to the Primera's annoyance… once he regained consciousness and his concussions subsided that is.

"And what is it that you would like to know about the meeting?" The Primera asked back in a bored tone, truly wishing he could find somewhere to hide that Lilynette couldn't find him.

"Everything! I don't know anything about what you talked about! Who was even at the meeting?" The child-looking arrancar answered, trying, and failing, to look menacing.

"All the Espada and those three shinigami." Starrk then adjusted his position slightly and closed his eyes, believing, or maybe just hoping, that she had no other questions or would go ask one of the others, like Gin, she liked Gin… right? It was either she liked him or was scarred to death of him, he could never remember.

"Then what did you talk about? It had to be something big if all of you were there!"

Starrk adjusted himself again so that he was facing the ever-dark sky. "Some spy that Aizen had in Seireitei and some oddball shinigami that she drove out."

"Who was the spy?"

"That Sango girl who you were with all the time when Neliel was still here."

"…"

The silence put him on edge, as it happened only rarely. Before he could move to see what Lilynette was doing, the little she-devil kicked him again… in the exact same spot. Starrk flipped over again, landing on his back. He absently wondered if _hierro_ even helped with blunt attacks, as he was fairly certain that he would be getting another concussion soon.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS SANGO?"

"I just did."

Again, he got a kick to temple in the exact same spot, and again, he had no idea why.

"SANGO JUST DISAPPEARED A LONG TIME AGO AND YOU'RE JUST TELLING ME NOW THAT YOU KNOW WHERE SHE IS?"

"I just learned about it yesterday."

And there goes the Primera, look at that form as he soars through the air.

"Will you stop that? I'm getting a concussion and I'd rather not go into _another_ coma."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I told you. I just learned it yesterday."

And he is sent flying once more, oh that landing looked like it hurt.

"Then why didn't you tell me right after the meeting?"

"I was too tired and people kept talking in the meeting so I couldn't get any sleep until it was over."

"You're always tired!"

"Maybe it's because of all the injuries I've been getting."

And kicked once more, only to land flat on his face.

"My point taken."

"SHUT UP AND ANSWER THE QUESTION!"

"I did."

"Coyote Starrk." At the new voice speaking they both turned to see Ulquiorra standing there, for how long, neither knew. "Aizen-sama requests your presence."

"Again?" The Primera took this opportunity to sit up, trying to tell if his head just hurt or he had the concussion he was expecting. "I just came from there."

"It appears that you are wanted for guard duty of a female that will be here soon." The Cuatro answered in his normal monotone voice, giving away none of his feelings, if he even had them that is. He then turned to leave, feeling the conversation was over.

"But I thought you were going guard the human chick that Aizen was talking about?"

"Inoue, and yes, I am. You will have a different charge."

* * *

She didn't want to believe it, she _didn't_ believe it, but there was something, akin to an echo in the back of her head. This echo of the past, if it could be called that, was the only thing keeping Sango from opening up another garganta and escaping, not that she would get very far with her injuries. Still, she just felt something. The sense of familiarity when she first heard Kagome's name, how she felt like she knew the child that was staring at her.

"Okay, _if_ everything that you told me is true, then tell me one thing that I couldn't forget." Sango spoke for the first time in what felt like hours.

That made Kagome think. "Uh… Kohaku?"

Sango thought the name over. It sounded familiar but she still couldn't place it. Shaking her head, the arrancar looked back at the other woman, waiting for something else.

"Oh, I know!" Shippo spoke up, drawing their attention. The kitsune may not know exactly what was going on, but he got the basic idea of it. "Miroku!" Sango thought the name over as Shippo continued to speak. "Perverted monk, like purple, always carried a staff, huge womanizer, had a hole in his hand."

Again, it sounded familiar, but Sango just couldn't reach the memory. So, again, she shook her head, and Kagome scowled. Who else was there that would jog a memory.

"How about me?"

Sango blinked and looked down at her stomach, still only covered in a blanket. There was yet another child on her, though this one she couldn't even feel. It was a girl, about the same age as Shippo. She had pale blond hair with black bangs tied up in a ponytail and clad in a sundress. A strange tattoo like star mark was present on her face, but what really caught Sango's attention was her eyes. The brick red, black slitted pupil, that seemed infinitely more important. She knew those eyes, but from where?

_

* * *

Here little kitty, don't say a word, Sango's gonna find you a baby bird.  
__And if that bird don't taste good, Sango's gonna cook it broiled and stirred  
__And if you think that that's absurd, Sango's bring you what you prefer_

_Mew_

_Hush, I'm trying to think of another line. Now then, what else rhymes with bird?_

_Mew_

_Oh don't sound depressed, you know that I care about you._

_Mew_

_Fine, fine, if you're so hungry I don't see why you can't go and catch some fish for yourself._

…

_Kirara? Kirara? Where'd you go?_

_Mew_

_Kirara? Wait, where did you get that fish? It's huge!_

_Mew_

_Let me guess, you had it this whole time, didn't you?_

…

_Hey! Don't eat the whole thing by yourself, that's a big fish, at least let me have some!_

_Mew_

_Hey, get back here! I'm sorry about how rude I was just don't leave with the fish! I'm starving!_

* * *

"K-Kirara?"

"Glad you remember, Sango-chan."

* * *

"Ok, I give, what happened to Grimmjow?"

Aizen looked at the Primera for a moment, the aforementioned arrancar having just left, and missing an arm. "He went against an order to remain here. His actions caused the loss of all his Fraccion in the process. As punishment, he had his arm forcibly removed and was removed from his position as Sexta Espada."

"Figures he'd mess up like that. Was the chick who left his replacement?"

"Yes, that was Luppi Antenor, and he is male." Starrk blinks at his superior, unable to speak after that last comment. "In any event, I wish for you to take part in our invasion of Karakura town in one month's time." Aizen continues, sitting back in his chair. "You will not be part of the fighting squad, for obvious reasons, and you are not to enter any fights unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Then what am I supposed to do there?" Starrk asks, and a creepy smile once again graces Aizen's lips.

"I wish for you to give us a new ally, one that I believe will be very helpful in the battles to come."

"And who is this person?"

"Who else? Miss Higurashi."

* * *

Inside the Forth Squad medical wing in Seireitei was where one would go if they had any sort of medical problem. The ones that frequented this wing for this reason were usually Jushiro Ukitake, who's chronic illness was constantly getting better or worse, and Kenpachi Zaraki, who never bothered to bandage any of his injuries often falls unconscious due to blood loss. One captain that almost never came here was the Tenth Squad Captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya. And now he was here, in much less than favorable conditions.

As Shunsui had been told, the attack ruptures a persons blood vessels via sound waves. What they had to find out, rather unfortunately, was that it did so with a small, yet immensely powerful shockwave. Said shock wave would do more than just slightly damage a person's blood vessels, it practically disintegrates them. Even worse, if the shockwave was over an organ, such as a person's intestines in Jushiro's, the organs would be almost just as badly damaged. Now for Toshiro, it was much, MUCH worse.

When the shockwave hit, it was directly in contact with the captain's brain, barely an inch of bones and tissue separating them. What should have happened was the blast turning Toshiro's brain into little more than a bloody pink blob. But, in a stroke of luck, he was hit in the just right position that his skull and neck had somehow absorbed most of the blast, leaving minimal brain damage. So, while he was still alive, it was not known if he would be for long. The blast had fractured his skull, broken his nose, misalignment of his neck, and caused brain hemorrhaging, thus resulting in his current predicament.

In a coma, on life support, barely alive, neck in a brace, and head completely wrapped in bandages, only leaving the mouth visible for him to breathe.

Next to his bed sat his only visitor, recently returned from the living world was one Momo Hinamori, in all her crying glory.

"_Shiro-chan, where did all of this go wrong?"_ Thought the small lieutenant, hoping that her childhood friend could somehow hear her. _"We were always happy, even if you never showed it, you could never fully hide it. But now…"_ She sobbed quietly, tears running down her cheeks. _"You always protected me, even when Capt-… even when Aizen didn't, you were always there."_ Her eyes then snapped open, determination being the only thing visible. _"Now, it's my turn to help you. I will find the one who did this to you. She was working for Aizen and I will not forgive either of them."_ She then stood up and turned to leave the room, a leather pack on her back.

"_Sango Kuwashima, you will pay."_


	23. Reasons

**AN:** Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry.  
I know I skipped an update and I have no valid excuse other that I was too lazy. To make it worse this is a relatively short chapter, just a transition.

**IAN (Important Author's Note): **I remembered something important as I was writing this. When I was writing the few previous chapters I forgot that arrancar's release and attacks are supposed to be in spanish. It's kind of sad that I, as an American, know next to nothing of spanish but I fluently speak french and know a fair amount of german and japanese. But that's beside the point. Anyway, I went back, found a translator and renamed Sango's release and attacks in spanish, badly I'm sure. So you might want to look back and reread them just to know what they are.

**AIAN (Also Important Author's Note):** I believe that I am messing up the cannon plot at some points, as I watch the Bleach anime and they put WAY TO MANY FILLERS in it so some things might be wrong in previous or future chapters, just a warning.

**RAN (Random Author's Note):** Something completely off topic that I found out a while ago is that _Inu_ is japanese for dog, and _Yasha_ is japanese for female demon. So, when you put them together, _Inuyasha_ literally means Female Demon Dog... and if that's not awkward to name a boy, then I don't know what is.

Read & Review  
Enjoy

**

* * *

Reasons**

The feudal era is a place that few could describe, partially because they don't know that demons existed, but that's not the point. The main reason that few can describe the time period is that it was a time where your life could be great one minute, ruined the next, and over soon there after.

For one, there were many diseases that those in modern times take the cure available for granted. Another is the constant fights that rang out and between armies, the few nobles, bandits, and simple villagers. But, with all of these challenges, there were many opportunities for individuals to grow stronger. Not many ever took this path, as they didn't have the raw potential to do so, but those who did grew far stronger than what was believed humanly possible.

For those who had the potential, their growth in strength was determined by three factors. Those being their drive and reason to push on, the danger and difficulty of the challenges they face, and the amount of time they had before they stopped or died. In this was the feudal era was magical in a way that as long as you had a large enough drive with at least two of these factors, you could go from a sniveling person with no strength whatsoever to one of the strongest beings to ever live.

For one such a Kagome, her reason to push on, in the beginning at least, was to find her way back to the well. Her challenges where demons, various bandits at times, a snobbish and arrogant noble at one point, and hollows from time to time. As for the time she had, it was and still is, endless.

For the human that was once known as Onigumo, his reasons were much more simplistic. He pushed on because he wanted to live, to be with Kikyo, he challenged fate that said he should have died in the fire and later against the countless demons within him that constantly tried to take over his body, and his time was, although limited at first, once he absorbed the demons it became endless as well.

Then the least known, but possibly greatest one to obtain their strength through that of the feudal era's magic, was one Midoriko. After her family and village had been burned away, she made possibly the largest jump in power ever seen. At the age of ten, she was a simple village girl, not even aware of her priestess powers yet and having no skills other than the farming and painting that her father and mother, respectably, taught her. Then, when she lost everything besides her brother, she had a reason to go on, protect her little Jiro. She had the challenge of countless demons that were all attracted to her powers that she was just beginning to tap into. Yet despite that, she, even though she didn't know it, only had fourteen years to fight, and fight she did.

By the time she was eighteen, she far stronger than any other human, and few demons could keep up with her. Discarding the traditional bow and arrow as her weapon of choice, she chose a sword, a katana to be exact. Forgoing the usual robes of a priestess, she wore armor made by her good friends the demon slayers out of high-quality demon bones that she had killed for. Going so far as to even have enchanted stones embedded into her forehead in the shape of a cross, or as she said, a flower. She did all of this to protect her brother, and later, a man named Hisoka who said he would follow the "Holy Priestess" wherever she may go, though it was plainly obvious that he had a crush on her, along with Kirara, who she gave a new family to call her won.

Now, Midoriko was not the strongest being to ever walk the face of the earth, far from it in fact, a shinigami captain could defeat her, if only barely. But even so, to gain so much power in only fourteen years is something that no one else could ever say that the had done, when given so little.

Midoriko was incredibly famous, enough so that some demons knew on instinct who she was and ran away, to temple guards not even asking who she was, and finally the fact that even in modern times she is found in countless books of history and fiction. But, even with this fame, one thing had always been shrouded in mystery. Midoriko was claimed to be the strongest priestess to ever exist. If that that was so, then did she ever reach the pinnacle of a priestess's abilities?

Could she see the future?

Even her brother, who she loved more than anyone, her servant, who she was actually developing a crush on in return, and her companion, who she trusted with her life, did not know the answer to this, but they believed it to be true. Why did they believe this? Simple, Midoriko's favorite line, that she rarely went a week without saying.

History always repeats itself.

And it was proven true. Kirara had once again lost her family, a priestess once again lost to demons, a couple that was barely starting out never had a chance to express their feelings. Things that had happened before, as much as we'd like to think they did not.

It could even be that she knew she was going to die, yet she didn't run away from it. But if that were true, then why did she not run?

Then, a question infinitely more important, will she be right again, even in death?

Why should this be asked? Just look at it.

We have a girl, a priestess, whose power has grown beyond that of a human. She lived with her mother, brother and grandfather. She has reached the pinnacle of a priestess, yet forgoes a bow in favor of a sword. She has befriended a demon, two in fact, and have given those demons a new family to live for. She has seen her own death, yet doesn't run away from it, yet at least. Her best friend is a demon slayer, who she loved like a sister. She used the symbol of a flower, taken place as the guard of her sword, a katana in fact.

Kagome Higurashi, said to be Kikyo reincarnated, but could she have been a different priestess in a previous life?

Even if it were not true, would Midoriko still be right?

Would history repeat itself?

If so, then it would be a pretty dismal future.

Would her family die as she couldn't save them? Would she be saved at the last minute my a complete stranger? Would she find love, only for it to be taken as they both dies against insurmountable odds? Would the demons once again once again lose their families, being the only ones to survive, as much as they wished that they didn't?

Is this the future that will have to be faced?

Is this the history that will never stop repeating?

* * *

"Wait, let me get this straight. I actually hung around with a pervert and I _didn't_ kill him?"

"No, but you came pretty close to it, quiet often actually."

"But still, how did I not kill him? I mean I couldn't have changed that much from when I was alive, and I can't stand perverts. I mean I would gladly kill that sexist bastard Nnoitra if I was strong enough and had the chance."

"Nnoitra? Who's that?"

"Quinto Espada, probably the most foul mouthed person I've ever met."

"And he's a sexist?" Kagome asked, just to make sure.

"And he's a sexist." Sango confirmed.

"Are there really so few strong females or is he just strong?"

"Well, Neliel-sama use to beat him on a regular basis, though never killing him, as much as I think he deserved it."

"Who's Neliel?"

"She is-… was, my former superior…" Sango trailed off, looking at the ground where they were sitting.

"… You were close, huh?"

"She was probably the nicest Espada there was, she actually believed that we shouldn't kill humans, one of the many things I looked up to her for."

"What happened?"

The arrancar let out a tired sigh, suddenly feeling tired. "She, along with her other two servants disappeared one day, no one knows why. They just, left me." Tears were beginning to form on the edges of her eyes. "They were my best friends and now I don't really have any. I would have gladly gone with them but they just left me."

Before the tears could spill over, she was brought into a hug with who was said to be her once best friend, who she was slowly remembering. "It's okay, Sango-chan." Kagome said softly. "I'm not going to say that what this Neliel did had a good reason behind it, but I always was your friend, and I still am."

Now Sango was at a confusing time. She was afraid, afraid of what Kagome would say if she learned that it was in fact her that is the reason for her mistreatment in Soul Society. Sango did not know if her friend would remain that, a friend. She had seen how Kagome had made friends with Toshiro and Shunsui, even Jushiro to some extent, all three of which she had fought against, two of them she didn't even know if they were still alive.

"Listen, Kagome. Uh… there's something I need to tell you." Sango managed to say. Kagome gave her a confused look.

"What is it?"

"Well… um. Aizen-sama gave me an mission some months ago and… well." Sango took in a calming breath. It was harder to say than she thought. "I… I had to go-"

"Kaa-chan! Come look at this!" Shippo called from the river's edge where he was playing with Kirara.

"Not now Shippo!" Kagome called back before turning back to Sango. "You were saying?"

"… Nothing, it was nothing important."

Kagome looked at her friend with a calculating eye, but let it slide. Instead, she opened up a new subject, something that had been bugging her for a while actually. "So, if you are a hollow, then where is the mask fragment and hole?"

"Oh that's simple." Sango eagerly replied, glad for the subject change. "A hollow will lose their hole if they ate enough souls, something I did. As for my mask fragment, it's right here." She then used her hand to brush five bone-white earrings that went from the helix to the lobe of her right ear. They were identical and in the shape of teardrops with small swirls carved into them.

"Kind of a strange don't you think?" Kagome asked.

"Maybe but I like them and I've seen stranger." Sango replied, lowering her hand.

"I doubt that."

"The Octave Espada has his as a pair of glasses."

"Okay now that's just stupid."

"I suits him, he's kind of the mad scientist of the group."

* * *

One mouth passed, for one side it was nonstop training. For another, it was making their humanoid hollow army larger. And for one "rouge" shinigami, not that she was ever that loyal in the first place, an arrancar who really didn't want to go back to Las Noches, two demons, and a zanpakuto spirit, they didn't really do anything except catch up on old times.

Ichigo had apparently found a group of ex-shinigami who go by the name "vizard" to train with. Various shinigami were sent by Soul Society that included Renji, Rangiku, a bald man known as Ikkaku Madarame, and another from Squad Eleven by the name of Yumichika Ayasegawa. They were to defend the Karakura from the arrancar attack that they were seventy percent certain was going to happen. For some reason they also made their main base in Inoue's house. Soi Fong had remained here to be the leader of the small yet deadly group. Momo had gone back to Soul Society for a day then disappeared, it is unknown if she left willingly. Renji and Chad were training under the watchful eye of Yoruichi, as Urahara was still running from his life from Soi Fong on a daily basis. Ishida had left to go do… whatever it is that he does. Inoue, after giving up on getting the shinigami to leave her house, went to Soul Society with Rukia to train.

On the other side, Aizen had finally sent out his own squad of arrancar to complete four tasks. Grimmjow was to see how far Ichigo had come. Yammy along with the new Sexta Espada and a new arrancar, a rather childish and ignorant one known as Wonderweiss Margela were to distract all of the shinigami present in Karakura. Ulquiorra was to find Inoue and go through a predetermined plan to bring her to Aizen's side. Starrk, much to his annoyance, also had to go. He just couldn't bring Lilynette with him, much to his enjoyment. One thing that Aizen was confused about was that it was already a month since he got the last report from his spy. It was uncommon for her to be late for anything, unlike a certain Primera, and had yet to miss a single report. Something must have happened, he just didn't know what.

For said spy, she was confused, that's really the only way to put it.

Kagome seemed to not care that she had left Soul Society. While she did often talk about the few friends that she made there, obviously sad that there was a chance they could no longer be friends, she wasn't troubled at all that she might just have the whole of Seireitei chasing after her for leaving, something that wasn't allowed. Then Sango realized that maybe Kagome didn't know that she was not allowed to leave, thus bringing us to her current question.

"Kagome, why are you not worried?" The arrancar asked.

"What do you mean? Why would I be worried?" Her friend who she had almost completely regained her memories of the time before with.

"Well you did leave Soul Society."

"And?"

"That's illegal."

"Really?"

"_So she didn't know."_ Were Sango's thoughts, yet the dark-haired woman still didn't seem worried, just curious. "Yes, and they probably sent people to hunt you down, probably kill you."

"Well they certainly are taking their sweet time at it." Kagome said absently, though it was true. Even if they did sense various high-level shinigami in the area, as they never went farther than the outskirts of Karakura, the shinigami never came far from town, like they were there for another reason besides finding Kagome. "Besides, I left on my own accord. It was their idea for try and imprison me in a _gigai_, something that I just find stupid to do to someone who could have been an ally. So, I just won't be their ally."

"… R-Right." Sango managed to say. While Aizen did tell her to drive Kagome out of Soul Society, it was her won idea to use a modified _gigai_. At the time she had thought it was a great idea, as she couldn't remember her time alive with Kagome. Now though, she hated it and wished she had not done it. Then, to make things worse, she had learned that the _gigai_ had nearly killed her! She still could not find the words to tell Kagome of what she did. So all together, we have one very depressed and sad arrancar.

With a deep breath, the arrancar decided that she would finally tell Kagome, who she was glad to say she considered a friend, about the orders. "Hey, I need to-"

And, once again, she was cut off, this time by the strangling reiatsu that suddenly saturated the air.

"Arrancars." Kagome spoke up. "I recognize Grimmjow but I don't know the others."

"I think I sense Yammy as well, but I've never met the other two before." Sango replied. She then looked to Shippo, sleeping in Kagome's arms, where he was probably most comfortable. "I'm surprised that he's still asleep."

"I don't even know if he can sense reiatsu, though it does not seem so." That's when a fifth arrancar could be sensed, eerily closer than the others. "Whoa! New guy is a little to close for comfort." Sango looked puzzled, she was trying to remember this signature. The was just one the tip of her tongue but she just could not place it.

"Kuwashima-san, I didn't expect to see you here." Came a voice from behind the two, one that immediately had Sango's eyes widen. That gruff and naturally bored voice was hard to forget. "I thought that you would still be back in Soul Society doing your little puppet act."

Sango gulped down the saliva that had formed in her mouth, giving away her nervousness. "W-What are you doing here, Starrk?"

"_Why is she so nervous?"_ Kagome wondered, turning around with her friend to face the newcomer. _"And what did he mean by puppet act?"_

Little did Kagome know, but the answer to Sango's nervousness was simple. As she was currently staring down possibly the strongest arrancar, or hollow in general, to ever exist. His very reiatsu could kill lesser beings if he wasn't careful. His _cero_ was far superior to any other's and he could charge and fire them faster than what had ever been seen before. Hell, he could fire them at a machine gun rate if he wanted to. He was a man who could completely and utterly annihilate the ignorant priestess. And the first thing he did in her presence, was let out a loud yawn.

"Kami, I'm tired." The Primera grumbled. "Anyway, you that Kagome lady?" He asked, looking at the shinigami with a look of utter boredom.

For some reason this look unnerved Kagome rather than annoyed her as it would normally would. They could easily sense the various fights starting around town. Ichigo fighting Grimmjow and the Seireitei Shinigami verses the other arrancar. Yet this person didn't seem to care. Meaning he was either too weak to sense the battles, something that Sango's visible fear immediately denied, or he was so strong that the pressure did not affect him, a scary thought as it was a general rule that to completely be unaffected by reiatsu pressure you had to have an insanely larger amount than what was being given off.

The priestess gave a curt nod, the battles beginning to affect her as well.

"Who's the kid?" Starrk asked, an eyebrow arched, a small amount of curiosity showing on his otherwise bored features.

"A friend."

The Primera sighed and scratched the back of his head before replacing his hand in his jacket pocket. "Well I don't feel like messing around so I'll just come out and say it. Aizen-sama wants you to come to Las Noches."

Sango's eyes widened, so that was why Aizen wanted Kagome driven out, another ally. The question was why? The man was strong enough that he could give Yamamoto a hard time, and that was saying something. He had a whole army of lieutenant and captain level hollows that would follow him to the ends of the earth. So why recruit one woman, roughly of lieutenant level?

"And if I refuse?" Kagome asked, not seeing the realization on Sango's face, too intent on not letting the strange man out of her sight.

Starrk opened his mouth to respond, but slowly shut it and took on a thoughtful look. After a moment of silence he finally responded. "He didn't actually say."

"…" Not much could be said after something like that.

"Wow." But of course Kagome said something anyway. _"Should I be laughing or just walk away?"_

"Maybe he did say it but I just didn't hear him." Starrk wondered aloud.

"_Yeah, I'm walking away."_ With that, Kagome turned on her heel and began to do just that.

"_Why is she leaving? She never even gave me an answer."_ The Primera wondered, following her as she left. Sango was looking between the two with a worried expression. "Hey! Are you coming or not?" He called after her, but got no reply. "Why is it that no one ever answers me?"

"STARRK!"

Kagome stopped in her tracks at the new voice, and turned back to see the two arrancar's were just as confused as she was. "Who was that?" The priestess asked, getting a shrug from the Primera. "Maybe it was just someone-"

"STARRK!" Came the voice again, this time they could tell where it came from; up. All three looked up to see a something high in the sky, a mere speck to the gathered people. As the unknown object descended, Starrk was the first to recognize it, as one could tell from his cursing, no matter how bored he sounded.

"Dammit, how does she always find me?" The Primera grumbled.

"You can tell who that is?" Kagome asked, surprised, as it was still a slowly growing dot to her.

"Yeah, the voice was obvious enough. But how does she keep-"

BAM!

Well whatever it was, it fell to fast for Kagome to get a good look at it. The unknown object had hit the ground with the force similar to that of a meteor, kicking up a large dust cloud. It took her a moment, but the shinigami soon realized where the thing had landed.

Right on top of the Primera.

"STARRK! WHY DID YOU JUST LEAVE WITHOUT TELLING ME?' Yelled the same voice, much closer this time. The dust soon cleared to reveal a child in odd clothing standing on top of the Primera's head, which was in a crater with the rest of his body. Was he even alive?

"Lily-chan!" Sango suddenly shouted. The child turned to Sango and immediately brightened up.

"Sango-nee-chan!" The child yelled back, remaining on Starrk's head, not seeming to care. "What are you doing here? I thought you would still be in Seireitei with what BASTARD-" Queue child jumping off his head and kicking the Primera in the temple, launching him out of the crater. "-had said."

"Hey, what's going on?" Kagome looked to her arms to see that it was Shippo, woken up by the crash that had spoken. As soon as he sat up in her arms, he looked over to the child, Lilynette, just as she was looking at him.

"YOU HAVE A TAIL/ HORN!" Lilynette and Shippo shouted respectively, pointing at each other. "SO WHAT IF I HAVE A HORN/ TAIL, WHAT'S SO WEIRD ABOUT- HEY STOP THAT. NO YOU… STOP THAT!"

Sango couldn't help it, she doubled over, laughing hard, and quickly followed by Kagome. Evan Starrk, who was surprisingly alive, chuckled, he just did not get up. The two children, even if one was over a hundred, continued to argue about nothing, except the tail and horn thing that is.

"You guys are funny." Laughed another voice, belonging to Kirara, now perched on Kagome's shoulder. Lillynette took one look at her, then started yelling again.

"YOU HAVE A TATTOO!" The small arrancar yelled, pointing at the black star-shaped design on Kirara's forehead.

"IT'S NOT A TATTOO!" Kirara, who was read with the kind of anger only a child could gain over such a small matter could get, yelled at the same time a Shippo, both of them jumping from Kagome and landing in front of Lilynette. This only caused the two women to laugh harder, while Starrk stopped. As it was starting to hurt him.

"STOP LAUGHING!" All three children yelled, before turn back to the others and bringing back their argument. Children could just be hilarious when they were not trying.

"_So, this is the terrifying arrancar army?"_ Kagome thought as she stopped laughing to look at those present. _"Might as well enjoy all that I can before I die."_ An image of herself stabbed with a sword through her heart and in a pool of blood. _"Well, let's go and see what Las Noches is like."_


End file.
